Motherhood is a calling and a gift, a joyful time that goes by so quickly. So I have heard, but right now in toddler world it is tiring and messy and nothing goes the way you think it should. I was just listening to a radio take titled The Sacred Calling of Motherhood, something she said really resonated with me. I don't remember the exact quote but it was something along the lines of mothers today have this idea that the goal of raising children is to do it perfectly. Can I just say I am definitely failing on that front. Just today I chased my 2 1/2 year old daughter around the produce stand in the grocery store and then she proceeded to have a temper tantrum in the shopping cart. (For us going into the shopping cart is the equivalent of time out when we are in the store.) Later at the store when she didn't want to leave the bathroom I closed the door and left her in there which again caused a melt down, but she came running when I opened the door half a second later. Of course at some point I got the ever popular comment of, "wow you have your hands full." Thank you for noticing...
Motherhood truly is a sacred calling so lets treat it like what it is and embrace it as a prized and highly valuable position. I am not sure if my feelings towards motherhood come from societies influence or maybe because it didn't come about how I planned. Don't get me wrong I love my kids and I did want to be a mother, but I was at least going to get through college so that I could have degree to fall back on. I had a plan and when I became a mother I stuck to that plan. Then when I had my daughter I still kept to the plan. After my third child I conceded to the message God had been sending me for 3 years. Accepting a calling that has been dropped in you lap and embracing said calling are very different. I will always try to remember that I have a position that no one else can fill Mother to my children.
Back to perfection. The idea that you can parent perfectly implies that your children have no free will, that you just have to follow the right steps and the product will come out as desired. I think we all know that is not true. What makes the difference between Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, the prodigal son and his brother? I surely do not know so the best I can do is to teach my children the truth and do my best to shape their character. While I do that I also need to take some time to be a little less busy; less worried about the dishes, the laundry, the floors, the bathroom... A little less concerned about if I am getting any me time and a little more concerned with being present to my children. I need to enjoy the moments that I have now and put them above my insecurities of a messy house when possible.
Have you thought of motherhood as a sacred calling? Do you see the value of your work?
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