Sing It Sister!

"Martin Luther said, "The time will come when a man will take more than one wife." [Katharina] responded, "Let the devil believe that!" The doctor said, "The reason, Katie, is that a woman can bear a child only once a year while her husband can beget many." Katie responded, "Paul said that each man should have his own wife." To this the doctor replied, "Yes, 'his own wife' and not 'only one wife,' for the latter isn't what Paul wrote." The doctor kidded for a long time and finally the doctor's wife said, "Before I put up with this, I'd rather go back to the convent and leave you and all our children."

Amen Katie.

I have admired Katharina von Bora for a while and recently heard a radio show host mention her as he toured Germany. This woman was the ultimate Proverbs 31 wife.

Having the courage to escape a convent with other young nuns in a pickled fish wagon (other accounts say she was smuggled out in a pickled fish barrel), after becoming dissatisfied with convent life and getting interested in the reform movement she married Martin Luther at age 26. They proceeded to have 6 natural children and also raised 4 orphans.

While raising this brood she also ran a brewery, bred and sold cattle, managed the household funds and entertained visitors quite a bit as they lived in an old monastery given to the couple to use as their home. On top of it all she ran an on-site hospital and helped tend to the sick!

The best part? Her husband adored her and often referred to her as "My lord Katie" and "morning star of Wittenberg" (she rose at 4 am).

It certainly puts things into perspective every time I sigh about my kids waking me before 7 am and spilling juice on the table or floor. As a matter of fact I am feeling so guilty, I best go raise a barn or something in the back yard and immediately stop blogging. I bet Katie would have been an amazing homeschool blogger as well. In between selling cattle and making beer of course.