Growing up, I studied the Bible a lot. I didn't study it every day of my literate childhood, but I definitely felt guilty about it when I got out of the habit. I'd like to say that was because I loved the Lord a lot and wanted to hear from Him as much as I could, but that was a lie I told myself for most of my life. I felt guilty about falling out of the habit of reading my Bible for the same reason that I studied so much Scripture: I was constantly searching for the correct formula to happiness and honor. I look back over the copy of the Bible I read the most during my teen and college years, and it is covered with notes I wrote in the margins. One of my most studied passages was the one describing what the evangelical community has dubbed the Proverbs 31 Woman. I, like so many other church-going women, have held this group of verses up as my golden standard for the woman I want to be. And as evidenced by the various ball point pen chicken scratches covering that pa