Poor little Tyler is not feeling well this evening. When he got up this morning he was fine. I went to women’s Bible study, and he was in the nursery during that time so maybe he picked up something there…? When we came home he was a little grumpy, but I expected as much since he’s cutting his top teeth. But then he woke up from his nap really early and just wanted to be held and rocked. I took his temperature, but he didn’t have a fever. After he finished his dinner I picked him up and he started crying again and then threw up. This was the first time he’s ever thrown up and it was so sad. I’m not sure exactly what he has, but I’m sad to see my baby sick, this may be a long night…

Becoming a mom has reminded me of some memories of my mom. Tonight I had a memory of having the flu on Christmas day and my mom giving me a straw to drink my juice with–that was all the excitement I could handle that day, but I do remember getting a big stuffed dog that I named “Rover”–how original! I have memories of my mom trying to help pull a tooth that wouldn’t fall out, putting cream on a rash, being up with me at night when I had a bad dream. I didn’t really think about any of these things until more recently, probably since I’ve become a mom. I don’t think that means being a mom gives you special enlightenment but it has given me a new appreciation for my mom and I am glad for that.

I also find that being a mom has helped me to have a better grasp and gratitude for God’s design for women. The value in being a wife and mother is ignored and even mocked by our culture. There is so much pressure for women to “do more” than just being a wife and mother. For years our culture, and even the church, has been trying to redefine what it means to be a woman. The reason people are trying is because they don’t like what and who God says women are, so they are trying to come up with something more palatable to them.

In her book, Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free, Nancy Leigh DeMoss writes about the results of this un-biblical redefinition of womanhood:

-Millions of infants and toddlers being dropped off at daycare centers before daylight and picked up after dark;

-Mothers giving their best energy and time to persons other than their husbands and children, leaving those women perpetually exhausted and edgy;

-Women spending more quality time with men at work than they do with their own husbands;

-Families that seldom sit down and have a meal together;

-Children spending countless hours being entertained by videos, TV, electronic games and computers. (p. 125)

I wish that Christian women would live differently, but often this area in our lives looks no different than the world. It breaks my heart to think how many Christian women will struggle through life trying to get a handle on their role, without wholeheartedly embracing what God says it is in His Word. I wish it weren’t so rare to see spouses who delight in each other and lovingly nurture their children. Women play a huge role in this absence because our ministry is to be centered in our homes.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss writes,

“God’s plan is that a woman’s primary attention and efforts should be devoted to the ministering to the needs of her husband and children.” (p. 130)

We don’t have to be Martha Stewart or anything, but I bet those of us who are wives (and/or mothers) know that we could do more in this area. Even women who aren’t married often have an un-biblical view of womanhood and the value of fulfilling the role God has designed for us. I’ve heard many girls talk about never wanting to get married to “save themselves the headache.” One said to me, “Life will be more fun if I can do what I want without having a husband running my life.” Lots of girls say “I’ll never have kids, there’s no way I could deal with all that crying…I like my sleep too much.”

My husband is a high school youth pastor and I regularly hear stuff like this from girls I come in contact with. My heart is so burdened for this role of being a godly women–first that I would myself joyfully and obediently embrace this role God has made, and second that I would be bold about living out this role and setting an example for the women who are younger than me, not yet married, or who don’t have children yet.

“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live,
not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.” (Titus 2:3-5)

To be continued…