The Reward

Mothers Day has come and gone.  There has been a lot of attention and uproar over a comment made in the media by a liberal woman.  She said, “Mitt Romney’s wife did not know how to work.  She was only a stay at home mom!”  The high calling of being a mom is beyond measure  – one of the greatest callings a woman could possibly have.  Over the years the occupation of being a stay at home mom has come under attack.

 

I did a devotional one time on being a mom.  I read the following in Tough Job Raising Children by Della Efron:

 

“If you could tape a woman’s conversation during the day it would sound something like this: Don’t leave it there, take it up stairs, is that yours?  Don’t hit your brother, I’m talking to you, just a minute please, can’t you see I’m talking?  I said don’t interrupt, did you brush your teeth?  What are you doing out of bed?  Go back to bed!  What do you mean there is nothing to do?  Go outside, go read a book, turn it down, take a jacket, well take a sweater, take one anyway, get the toys out of the hall, get the toys off the stairs!  Do you realize that could kill someone!  Hurry up, hurry up – everyone is waiting, I’ll count to 10 and then we’re going without you!  Did you go to the bathroom?  If you don’t go we’re not going, what’s gong on back there?  I said stop it, give me a kiss, make your bed, clean your room, set the table, I need you to set the table, don’t’ tell me it’s not your turn!  Please move your chair into the table and sit up, just try a little, you don’t have to eat the whole thing; stop playing with it and eat it.  Ask your father, when he comes home, we’ll see, calm down!  Is that really the truth?  I’m sorry that’s the way it is.  Hi, honey, welcome home.”

 

This is funny, but the truth is it is real!  As mothers, God is faithful in all the hustle of being a mom.  As we train our children and nurture them, it’s a comforting thought as time ticks by that God gives us direction and strength to accomplish what we ourselves cannot do.  Every moment with your child is building and molding their character.  We are preparing them for life.  “My times are in your hand.” (Ps. 31:15a)  We journey with them.  Sin in my life is revealed and the Lord molds and shapes my character.   We have been called by God to chart our children’s course.  You learn to know your child individually, like Christ knows us individually.

 

2 Peter 1:3 says, “According as His divine power has give all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue.”  Is being a full time mom is a job that prepare us and our children for life?  You bet!  Because we never worked outside the home, have we never known real work?  Well, a mother is:

• A physician
• An interior decorator
• A cook
• A dietitian
• An expert at clothing repair
• A teacher
• A child psychologist
• A judge
• A purchasing agent
• A bookkeeper
• A repair man
• A taxi car driver
• An engineer
• A telephone operator
• A maid
• A janitor
• A gardener
• A just plain mom

Oh, the rewards far outweigh any struggle or hardship.

 

My Reward:  My 30 year old son, Daniel, wrote a poem for me on Mother’s Day – I share it with you.  And I am grateful my job was once “just a stay at home mom!”

 

The Debt

 

From a moment that a child is conceived

Ignites a sovereign gift that is received

A gift only known by a mother’s heart

With no hesitation, committed to the part

 

How she cradles with care the child

Sleepless nights carried by a smile.

Love is given, unending selflessness

Wait of generations, guard carelessness

 

Clear is the task that lies ahead

A heart for Christ toiling to embed

Only the best is what she desires

The child plays, no notice conspires

 

A day grows ever more into a week

Weeks, months & a year they flee

Sacrifice is forgotten often overlooked

Investment merely in memory booked

 

Then dawns a day of pure understanding

Overdue gratitude with fore commanding

He is resigned to unpayable debt

A mother’s love given with no regret