My Mother-in-law was a Proverbs 31 woman!

My husband of 30 years was raised in a very poor, 3rd world country. The first time I visited there with him I wandered into a room at the back of the house that was full of huge sacks and 10 gallon drums and containers. "What's all this?" "It's the storeroom" came his matter-of-fact reply. My 1960's brain took a moment to digest this concept. "Why does your Mom store all of this food, the market is only a few blocks away"...they lived in a city of 1.2 million people, not out in the middle of nowhere, for pete's sake. Then he said something I'll never forget, at least I haven't yet, "You never know when you won't be able to get it. We have famines and strikes here and we've never starved or had to turn anyone away from our table, because my mom always qued in any line and bought the limit. One time we ate nothing but macaroni for weeks, but we had all the macaroni we could eat while other people were hungry." Can you imagine how this information shocked me? It felt so last century. When we ran out of something (almost every week) Mom sent me to Cowden's little market on my bike and we bought some more. I had never thought what it might be like to be unable to buy because the market didn't have it to sell.
I thought about my mother-in-law, bless her heart, this morning when I went to the back bathroom to get toilet paper. We don't really use that bathtub room 'cause we're shower people and so I store the toilet paper in that bathtub. I have stuff stored all over the house. I have canned goods stacked behind the dresser, Tide under the sink, oil in the basement and a freezer full of meat. I don't know why I store so much but it feels good to know that I've prepared for my family. Like Mami Lily's family, my family will not have to go hungry and I'll not have to turn anyone away from our table. By the way, in the meantime, my kids grocery shop in my utility room and I'm pleased as punch that I can help!
Proverbs 31:14 "She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls."