The Importance of Mothers

Today is my 46th birthday. I guess having a birthday makes you reflect on things. I was thinking the other day on how much things have changed in the past seven years. Seven years ago I was working 12-15 hours per day and was extremely stressed. Dan & I both helped run an inner city ministry and I loved working but after the busyness of the day subsided there was something missing.

I constantly had the feeling that I was trying to be something I'm not. I was trying to be this professional woman who could have it all - a career (even though this career produced very little money), marriage and family. I felt like I had no control over the way my life had turned out.

Thanks to the grace of God, I was able to make some major changes in my life. However, when I first started homeschooling, I went through an identity crisis. I felt like what I did counted for very little. Our society tells us that mother's are not important. The only thing that counts is what you "do" for a living. Even in Christian circles there is this sense of dissatisfaction with being a wife and mother. I still fall into that trap every now and then.

I was offered the position of Elementary School Principal two years ago at a local Christian school and it was a huge struggle not to take it. Was it because women should not work? Should everyone homeschool? No, I don't believe that at all. I do not presume to think that God's will is the same for each person. However, I have a child with special needs who was absolutely miserable in public school. We saw him go from a pretty happy child to one who was in distress and questioning why God made him and saying that he wished he was dead! :-(

So what is more important? My career or my son? What choice would you make?

During the past year, I have begun to realize how important my role as mother is in the kingdom of God. Is it one that I get any accolades or credit for? Not really. To be honest, most people probably feel that if I would just get a "real" job then we wouldn't struggle so much financially. However, I have come to realize how great my responsibility is. I'm shaping my children into the adults they will become.

I think that the mother makes or breaks the home. My attitude affects the whole household. If I'm cheerful then everyone seems to catch this "cheerfulness". If I'm having a bad day and am short tempered then I notice that the children seem to bicker with one another and the whole tone of the house is sour.

I realize how much further I have to go. I am not the most patient person and God is working on me in this area. There are days when I have to ask my children's forgiveness. The Lord is breaking me of bad habits and re-educating me as a parent.

Even though I have not arrived and probably never will, when I look back and see where I was seven years ago, I praise God that He changed the circumstances of my life. I pray constantly that I can be the type of mother who will produce children that will grow into adults that love and serve the Lord.