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"When did being 'just' a stay-at-home mom become not enough?"
I can’t remember the exact context of the conversation. But his words saturated me with guilt.
How true were they?
How much did that question sting?
How much crushing pressure did it encompass?
Because, in today’s world?
The pressure put on mother’s today is insatiable.
And social media? Only perpetually compounds the guilt. The guilt of sacrificing a career to raise our families, in God's name.
When did the world decide we needed to put the word “just” in front of our hearts’ ministry?
When did we lose sight of the precious kingdom work we are doing?
The sacredness of this holy calling known as motherhood?
When did making a growing being a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to nourish his body suddenly make a mother feel inadequate compared to what she saw today on Instagram?
When did mending broken hearts and having those incredibly tough teenage conversations lose their holiness and significance in the eyes of the world?
When did showing up for every sporting and school event...
...making 180+ lunches each school year...
...changing sheets and removing stains...
...walking through a tough medical diagnosis...
...driving two hours away for college drop-off...
...standing on shaking knees
as she chooses her wedding dress...
...become "not enough"?
And, who let the world have so much say in our calling?
Instead, mamas are pressured to barrel through the “less than” tasks of “simply” staying at home to build God’s kingdom--to meet the demands of an uncontrollably socially-driven society. Adding more and more to our plates, simply to appease the unrealistic and unnecessary requests of a world who's got it all backwards.
But that’s just the thing.
The world has no right.
No right to judge and demand from mothers.
Yet, the judgments come so easily, wrapped in irrelevant noise.
We struggle to feel secure in our own skin.
We struggle to stand in integrity against
the falsehoods placed upon us.
We struggle to find value in the daily, often,
mundane and repetitive tasks of our
beautifully sacred calling.
Righteousness is a holy virtue to behold.
For we are not created to conform to this world, mamas. Rather, we are created to find our stronghold in His image.
We are created to follow His light and footsteps. And to walk the narrow, faithful path of “simply” being a mom.
It’s becoming harder and harder to find our Father’s voice amidst the social-media static. Mothers will forever be surrounded by irrelevant noise.
And that’s just it…it’s all irrelevant.
Because, our worth as mamas?
Is not something that can be found in this world.
And, it never will be.
For there is forever-and-always, only One voice that matters. Only One opinion that matters. Those quiet, truth-saturated, soul-refilling whispers--scattered amidst the world’s overpowering screams--from our Heavenly Father Above.
The whispers forever reminding us...
…that we are more than enough.
...that we were created for this sacred role.
...that God has planned every minute detail
of our journey--and not one task goes unnoticed,
or is deemed unworthy, by Him.
...that each moment of our calling is only
strengthening the priceless foundation
of raising kingdom-builders, all in His name.
...that mothers are completely irreplaceable.
...that our worth is one-of-a-kind,
beloved and hand-sewn.
“Just” stay-at-home mothers know their ministry is not “just” anything—it’s absolutely everything—leading their children straight back to the unconditional arms of their Heavenly Father Above.
For, raising God’s children as “just” a stay-at-home mother? Is actually something truly extraordinary.
“Perhaps you were born for such a time as this.”
(Esther 4:14)
"Her children rise up and call her blessed."
(Proverbs 31:28)
"For you are God's masterpiece."
(Ephesians 2:10)
"For I am fearfully and wonderfully made."
(Psalm 139:14)
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