Vineyards and Hot Dogs

My sister had Ben yesterday afternoon while I worked, and took him to my parents house.  I met her there, and we visited with them all evening, as Dad & my brothers began making repairs to the front of their house.  Mom made dinner, and we all ate in the front yard, and enjoyed our time spent together. 

Because of this new idea in my head, I was reminded of Proverbs 31:16...

"She considereth a field, and buyeth it; with the fruit of her hands, she planteth a vineyard."

Now, make no mistake - my mom didn't make dinner from the back yard clippings, or even from a garden.  That's NOT my mom.  :)

No, I considered this verse a bit more with an interpretive mind.  On an ordinary weekday afternoon, the anticipated number of attendees for dinner instantly went from two to TWELVE (I typed it out, so you didn't think it was a typo).  What do you do on a Wednesday afternoon, when TEN extra people show up at your door, and say, "I'm hungry!!  What's for dinner?" 

Well, I can tell you that my response would NOT be, "How about mostaciolli?  And, we have hot dogs & carrots for the itty-bittys!" 

But, this is my mom.  It's what she does.

How in the world have I associated a vineyard to hot dogs?  Well, that's the magic of The Bible and my (sometimes only understandable to me) interpretation (what an awesome book that can be related so well).  You see, I looked around at this mass of food, and emptying plates, and thought...how in the world do you manage this so easily?  How do you manage dinner for an army, with nothing but moments notice?  With the meager ingredients she had for a planned dinner for 2, she fed us all.  With the fruit that, almost literally, could fit in her hands, she filled a vineyard with tasty dinner.

But it's more than that. 

I sat back, and thought - this is what the ROOTS of the vineyard look like.  We all showed up at Mom & Dad's, and it never occurred to any of us that they wouldn't be prepared with dinner.  Even in our 30s, with our own children, we knew that HOME would provide for us and ours. 

By the fruit of her hands, our mom planted a vineyard. 

This is the kind of woman I want to be.  I want my child(ren) to know that if they stop in on a Wednesday afternoon, they will be taken care of.  They will be loved, and TIME will be given for them.  And, of course, hot dogs.