Proverbs 31: Virtuous Woman in Business

By Linda Ogbah Faas

As I was reading Proverbs 31 yet again, yearning to learn all I could from this virtuous woman in order to be a better version of myself, it started dawning on me that it has been spoken of and taught to us on how to be a virtuous woman at home, in the church, and in our community. However, not much emphasis has been placed on the business-building entrepreneurial characteristics of the same virtuous woman when every verse in her chapter literally mentions one business or another that she founded or managed. This resonated in me to shine a bright light on all these qualities that were unintentionally underdiscussed. Maybe it was because she was a woman doing business, or maybe we are too accustomed to women being assumed to manage only the home.

In this day and age, many women manage not just their homes; but they manage businesses, organizations, churches, educational institutes, military units, and much more. In order to represent these modern women, I also needed to point out that women managing businesses did not start with the virtuous woman; it started with the first generation of women that were mentioned in the Bible. As you read the stories of these Bible women and how their daily lives transcend to modern women in our generation, you get to read real life stories of Christian women that have diligently combined the ability of managing their families and their businesses and still kept God first and foremost in their lives--just as the Proverbs 31 virtuous woman did.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685709129

Book preview

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Proverbs 31

Virtuous Woman in Business

Linda Ogbah Faas

ISBN 978-1-68570-911-2 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68570-912-9 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Linda Ogbah Faas

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgment

Introduction

Hardworking (Tamara Keith)

Entrepreneur (Ke'Ira Lewis)

Untroubled (Krista Tavares)

Industrious (Brittany Carter)

Self-Confidence (Heidi Brocke)

Advisor (Cassandra Johnson)

Go-Getter (Tina Abernathy)

All Attribute: God-Fearing (Mercy Ogbah)

Closing Thoughts

Business Tips and Ideas

About the Author

Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone.

—Proverbs 31:31

Foreword

For with God nothing shall be impossible.

—Luke 1:37, King James Version

Women business leaders are continuing to shatter the glass ceiling. In January 2021, we celebrate Kamala Harris, our first African American woman vice president of the United States of America. We understand the importance of leading personally and professionally to encourage, empower, and educate women and leaders. In Proverbs 31 : Virtuous Leading Ladies , we take a journey with seven women leaders as they journey through their personal and professional lives, demonstrating that women business leaders are educated, intelligent, and gifted beyond measure. I, like you, can relate to their journeys in life and their personal stories as they share their vision for today, tomorrow, and beyond. Women leaders are visionary as they look far into the future to achieve their goals while developing a plan to succeed despite challenges and obstacles. Women, for centuries, have balanced their individual needs, church life, families, businesses, and volunteerism; and we make it look easy. However, we know it takes excellent organizational skills to make all areas of our lives work together. I have heard that women cannot have it all. However, we do it all; so we should have it all. I believe these virtuous leading ladies demonstrate it is possible to have it all, and it's possible to achieve the goals.

As women and as women leaders, think about the challenges you have faced and your experiences as you read this book:

Reflect on the time when someone doubted and underestimated you and how you persevered and succeeded.

Think about the leadership and organizational qualities you possess.

Think about the skills you use to manage your daily life and all of your engaged activities.

Think about the role you are creating yourself, your family, your community, your business, and your legacy.

Virtuous leading ladies are passionate and persistent and have persevered in their lives even when no one else believed in their worth. Virtuous leading ladies draw parallels from women in the Bible and other leading ladies to draw inspiration in their personal and professional lives today. The virtuous leading ladies we journey with work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). They are also women in the military; women in sports, health care, and technology; women in gospel music; women in sales and public speaking; women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM); women in business as advisors, motivators, and mentors; and women as professional registered nurses. As virtuous leading ladies, we have to be twice as good and do everything with a spirit of excellence as if we are doing unto God.

Women business leaders are critical to our world. We know that success in business around the globe is critically important to have diversity in individuals, experiences, and thought. There are many more women in decision-making roles as entrepreneurs within large organizations, business owners, and in the highest levels of government shaping the world. Women leaders are mentoring other women and creating more opportunities to demonstrate that we can—and we are—leading in our families, communities, and our personal and professional lives. These virtuous leading ladies are hardworking, entrepreneurs, untroubled, industrious, self-confident, advisors, and go-getters who love the Lord, who hears their cries.

Dr. Geneva L. Reed

Acknowledgment

Iam grateful to my family and the life experiences they intentionally and unintentionally allowed me to experience. To my parents, raising me in the church and bestowing upon me great life lessons always bring me back to my roots and get me back to God no matter what wrong turns I take. Likewise, my siblings (Prisca, Synthia, Johnny, Miriam, Felicia, Felix, and Robert) love me just as I am and redirect me when I start to lose my path.

To my children (Zachery and Zeal), for always looking up to me even as I struggle to correct a wrong or embrace a win, I love you for your unconditional love. To my cousins, who are close like siblings (Nnamdi, Emeka, Chioma, Echee, Daberechi, and all). Finally I am genuinely grateful to my friends who have seen me at my lowest and highest yet call me friend.

I thank God for everything he has allowed me to experience and everything he has given to me. I read from a successful businesswoman that you should surround yourself with five essential people to be successful.

Introduction

She wakes up at 4:00 a.m. and turns the alarm off from the side of her bed. She grudgingly drags her feet into the bathroom to fully wake herself up. By 4:30 a.m., she kneels beside her bed, pulls out her Bible and daily bread, and reads her Bible passages for the day. She sets it down and starts praying to God for the day ahead. She talks with God for a good forty-five to fifty minutes. By 5:30 a.m., she is in her workout clothes and exercising to the heart-pounding workout video on her TV screen. It is now about 6:15 a.m.; she jumps in the shower, gets herself ready, and starts waking up everyone in her household. By 7:15 a.m., her kids are dressed and fed, and everyone is being ushered out of the house for a day's journey. Her husband left for his job while she was working out but had after-school pickup duty.

She drops the kids off at school and drives to the school where she is a school administrator. She works a full day assisting her school staff as needed, mentoring students, and ensuring the school's advancement. When school is out, students go home. Staff finish up work and go home. She takes that hat off and puts on another hat. The second hat is a business owner—directing staff, advising customers, and building her business as a youth center director. By the time she returns home, her kids have been fed by her husband. The kids are ready for bed. She takes that opportunity to read the Bible to them and read an educational book, and they say their night prayers together.

Her husband waits up with her as she eats her dinner; they clean up the kitchen and tidy up the house. Then she heads into their area; she freshens up, sits with her husband as they talk about their day, and makes plans for the next day. Finally they both kneel beside the bed and pray to God together as the head of the household before they go to sleep. The next workday, they repeat the cycle over and over again. However, when weekends arrive, she volunteers with her children at local organizations on Saturday mornings before heading into her business to help the staff.

Early Sunday morning, she is at the church premises helping set up the service before she heads into her Sunday school class to teach the youth in her church. Don't expect her to sit silently during church service because she is part of the welcome team, and they ensure every soul that steps into the church building feels very welcomed and loved. Once service is over, she leaves with her family, goes for Sunday brunch where she never hesitates to minister to the restaurant staff that helps them, and blesses them with hefty financial gratitude. She uses the rest of her Sunday evening to relax with her family and enjoy a peaceful, God-filled week. She is rejuvenating for the following week ahead.

Does this woman sound like someone you know?

Does she sound like someone you strive to be more like?

Does she sound like an epitome of a Proverbs 31 virtuous woman?

Do you wish to be more like the Proverbs 31 virtuous woman?

Do you already feel like a Proverbs 31 virtuous woman?

Do you want to add all the qualities of a great family woman to a great businesswoman?

We are all here to share our life's journey with you and how it can be referenced to the well-known and very sought-after characteristics of a Proverbs 31 virtuous businesswoman.

How hard it is to find a capable wife! She is worth far more than jewels!

Her husband puts his confidence in her, and he will never be poor.

As long as she lives, she does him good and never harms him.

She keeps herself busy making wool and linen cloth.

She brings home food from out-of-the-way places, as merchant ships do.

She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and tells her servant women what to do.

She looks at land and buys it, and with the money she has earned, she plants a vineyard.

She is a hard worker, strong and industrious.

She knows the value of everything she makes and works late into the night.

She spins her own thread and weaves her own clothes.

She is generous to the poor and needy.

She doesn't worry when it snows because her family has warm clothing

She makes bedspreads and wears clothes of fine purple linen.

Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens.

She makes clothes and belts and sells them to merchants.

She is strong and respected and not afraid of the future.

She speaks with gentle wisdom.

She is always busy and looks