As I look up from my computer, my eyes fall upon a vignette of blue and white objects. Each one tells a story from my military journey. I see the vase I purchased in East Berlin before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the plates with images of famous places where we lived in Wiesbaden, Germany, the mug from Japan, the platter from Korea, the ginger jar from Hong Kong, and the lapis box my husband sent from Afghanistan.

I enjoyed collecting my blue and white treasures from around the world, but a house of international mementos is not what is communicated in Proverbs 31:13–14. I am afraid that I sometimes do not have “willing hands” or a joyful spirit for trips closer to home to purchase household supplies. I know others enjoy going to the grocery store. I am not that girl.

The good thing for me is that I do not have to be that girl. Between my husband and me, one of us will go to the grocery store. (Fortunately, he likes to make that trip—it is one of the many reasons I love him!) The point is not whether or not I like to go to the grocery store; the point is whether I am a person who is willing to meet the needs of my family. The heart and goal of the entire chapter is found in these two verses. The focus of this woman of wisdom is not to collect personal treasures but to do whatever her willing hands need to do to care for her family.