Another reality is that being a mother is, VERY OFTEN, a thankless job where you feel invisible. I do not see someone standing by the hamper to thank me when I put the clothes that I just picked up from the bedroom floor... nor do I see anyone in the bedroom to thank me either. When I scrub the toilets I do not receive a plaque that says how great a job I've done nor is there one for when I sweep the floors. The days that I've gotten in the shower to clean off the vomit that the sick child in my arms just spewed all over her and me, I didn't see anyone cheering in the corner. When a certain someone, or another someone, is throwing an outlandish fit that makes me wish desperately for a job in a cubical where I could maybe put on some headphones and listen to some nice music and just feel like I've accomplished something worthwhile, there is no one standing there to say "THIS is what it's about!"
Don't get me wrong here. My husband is wonderful and he helps around the house more than nearly any man I know and my kids are sweet and wonderful and they do say thank you for A LOT! It's still easy, though, to feel like my work around the house is for nothing. The hamper will be full again by the time the clothes get hung. They floor is dirty as soon as I sweep the pile into the dustpan. The discussions that I have with my kids will need to be had again in a few days. They will need to be reminded to put on socks, brush their teeth for the third time because they didn't get them clean the first two. They will have privileges taken away for their crummy attitudes and disrespectful faces... and then it will all happen again. And if I'm not careful to keep my mind on WHY I'M HERE and what MY PURPOSE is, it is easy to FEEL like it's for nothing. This morning, however, there were two big reminders for me that I wanted to share... just in case there are other mothers that sometimes feel like I do. The first came in a new song by Steven Curtis Chapman and you can listen to it by clicking below:
Do Everything by Steven Curtis Chapman
The second came at the very end of a message by Mark Driscoll, a pastor in Seattle, WA. Here's a short bit from his transcript:
An Example for Women
And ladies, I want you to learn from the example of Mary. She said, “I am willing to be the Lord's servant,” and what was her ministry? Wife, mother. We live in this foolish day that tells young women: flirt, date, sleep around, cohabitate, fornicate, use birth control, have an abortion because the last thing you want is to get saddled with a child; if you want to really change the world, kids will get in the way. Mary said, “Actually, I'll be a mom. I'll raise this to a boy, his name will be Jesus, and that's my gift to the world.” She also raised another boy named Jude, he wrote a book of the Bible. She raised another boy named James, he too wrote a book of the Bible and pastored the early church in Jerusalem. Do you think at the end of her life she stood back and said, “Man, I really wish I would have achieved something. You know, my one son atoned for the sins of the world, the other one pastors the church in Jerusalem that is the epicenter for world missions, and two books of the Bible are written by my sons, and oh, by the way, I was numbered among the early church and I got to see the Holy Spirit fall on Pentecost and 3,000 added later and Luke interviewed me and I made it into a few books myself”? I don't think she had any regrets being a worshiper of God and a wife and a mother.
And some of you will hear that, and because Satan whispers in your ear, you'll hear, “Ah, so Mark doesn't love women and he thinks that women should be uneducated and they should all get pregnant,” and that's, you know what, that's not what I'm saying at all. I love my daughter with all my heart, she's very smart, a great student, I've got a college fund for her, I anticipate her to do exceedingly well in school as she always has, but you know what, I don't know what the Lord's call on her life is and if she comes to me and says, “Daddy, my calling is to be a wife and mother,” what I won't say is, “Ah, I'm so sorry to hear that, I wanted great things for you.” I would say, “Praise God, like Mary, be the Lord's servant and don't despise his calling on your life, let him write the script.”
I am always so grateful for the privilege of being a mother. In the difficult, mundane days when it feels like we're living in "Groundhog Day" let's remember that it is a calling, a great opportunity and even though we cannot SEE someone cheering us on, giving us accolade after accolade for what we're doing, there is ONE watching and He is thankful for a job well done. We are never invisible to him! So, let's "do everything you do to the glory of the one who made you" and "let him write the script!"
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