For the month of May, I’m going to be focusing on motherhood—the joys and challenges unique to this particular calling.
But before I do, I want to make one thing clear.
Motherhood does not make me special.
I know. Mother’s Day is in six days. (For the men who read my blog—and I really appreciate that you do—you have six days. Get cracking.) I’m all in favor of taking a day to honor mothers.
But there are a lot of women who are not mothers. Some by choice. Some by circumstance. Some okay with it. Some heartbroken.
I live in the kind of place where the norm is for a girl to go to college, get married, work for at least a few years, and have some babies.
And I said the norm not because that’s what every woman does, but because that seems to be the expectation.
Now, I’m not going to talk about how any woman should be content in her singleness. Or how any woman should be patient as she waits for a child she longs to hold. I wouldn’t go there because if I did, any one in those circumstances could point to me and say, “What do you know about it?”
And they would be right. I met my husband at nineteen. Got married at twenty-three. Had our first child at twenty-eight. Then quit my job as engineer to stay home with her and the little brothers who followed.
What I am going to talk about it this…motherhood does not make me any more special than any other child of God. My role as “mom” does not grant me special access to God or endow me with super-sensitive spiritual hearing. I do not believe that motherhood provides some sort of inside track to closeness to God or that God keeps special “behind the scenes” insights that are for parents only.
God uses whatever circumstance we find ourselves in to reveal Himself to us.
For me, He often uses the triumphs and challenges of motherhood to speak to my heart. But for you, it might be the joys and frustrations in your work environment or the difficulties that your neighbors present on a daily basis. If you’re a single woman over the age of 21, it might be the aggravation of dealing with that friend of your mother’s who wants to know when you’re going to “find you a good man to settle down with” or asks “isn’t it about time you had a baby” every time you see her.
(Side rant: So help me, the next time someone says that, I’m going to throw a New Testament at them and ask them if they’ve ever read the part that says it’s better not to marry. I know some singles who are changing the world for the Kingdom and all anyone can do is wonder why they aren’t married. Burns me up. OK. Rant over.)
So…I’m inviting you—single, married, widowed, divorced, lots of kids, no kids, male, or female—to join me this month. My theme may be motherhood, but my desire is not to make you wish you were a mommy, too.
It’s to encourage you to long to know your Savior more.
Join me?
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Are you taking the Joy Dare with me? Since November 1, 2011, I’ve counted over 600 graces…
May 7th – Three gifts about your home…The view from my bedroom window; the soft carpet upstairs; the people I share it with
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