There is a lot of emphasis today on women pursuing careers. Women can be anything they like. They can be doctors, lawyers, CEOs of a company, politicians. We are even told that some day we will have a woman President. There are many women who are very successful in all manner of careers.
We are not here to argue whether or not mothers should work outside the home or have one of these careers. Rather we are here to hold up one career which is most often overlooked or even put down in the world, but one which is praised above all others by God. That is the career of motherhood.
When guidance counselors present all the career options for young women, motherhood is seldom, if ever, mentioned. The impression is given that if you are “only” a mother or housewife, you are wasting your full potential and you cannot have a fulfilled life. It is as if motherhood is a burden that keeps you from reaching your dreams.
Being a full-time mother IS a career. It is probably the most demanding career of all. It requires all of one’s skill and ingenuity. It demands all of one’s time and energy. It also calls for all the care-giving love that God has especially given to women.
In our day the woman who keeps up a full-time career outside the home, and is a mom and wife, is called a “super mom.” In my estimation, the true “super mom” is the one who is a full-time mom.
Raising children has got to be the most physically and emotionally exhausting career of all. Husbands need to understand that and help their wives in every way they can.
Motherhood is not only a demanding career. It is also the most fulfilling and blessed career of all. Motherhood is a career entrusted by God: “Children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is His reward” (Ps. 127:3).
God has entrusted His dear little ones into our care as parents. What could be more fulfilling than carrying out the work God has given us? What could be more important than caring for God’s children?
Crucial For Believers!
As believers this job becomes even more crucial. If the only thing that was needed to raise children was feeding them and watching them to make sure they didn’t get hurt, then any reliable baby-sitter could take care of that. But God says, “He seeks godly offspring” (Mal. 2:15).
Raising godly children for the Lord requires constant training and care from the time children are born until they are out on their own. It involves teaching them Bible stories and lessons from God’s Word. It involves leading them to find their comfort and hope in the Lord. It requires a discipline that teaches them about repentance and forgiveness, and instills in them a desire to be obedient to their Heavenly Father in thankfulness for His love and grace. Parents need to show children how to make the Lord #1 in their lives and worship. They want to pray with them, teach them to pray, and pray for them.
There is no one better suited for that than the believing mother and father.
Talk about a rewarding, blessed career–what could be more rewarding than to be able to see the Holy Spirit work a simple childlike faith in the hearts of your children?! What a joy to see children express their faith and love for the Lord. So often our children teach us great lessons in faith even as we teach them. Not to mention the excitement of experiencing life again through a child’s eyes as he grows and discovers new things.
No one has a better opportunity to experience the joys of watching children grow than the full-time mother who is with her children daily.
Best of all, God says, “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her” (Prov. 31:28). Other careers may have their rewards, but there can be no greater reward than to see your children grow up as children of God and to have them thank you and call you blessed, knowing also that you will spend eternity with them in heaven.
The world looks at children more as a burden than a blessing, or as something that gets in the way of enjoying life. May we see our children as tremendous blessings from God and the source of joy in our life.
The world may not have a very high regard for full-time motherhood. Let the world think and say what it wants, motherhood is the only career that God calls BLESSED.
–Pastor David Reim