I grew up watching shows like Murphy Brown, a strong independent woman who had a baby and a career, and hearing from teachers that girls can do anything men can do and that worth is only accomplished by what you can accomplish in this life.
I was taught women should be in the work force because we are equal and we need to prove ourselves and I just thought I would follow suit. I went to college to get my degree so that I could be a successful business women.
God had other plans and in my second year of college, He drastically changed my life when He chose me to be a follower of Christ. I finished my degree and then headed off to the mission field. It was at this point that my Christian friends started getting married and having babies, they were leaving their jobs to stay home but more shocking they had no plans to return to the work force.
Can I be honest here? I really thought what a waste of their life. Why would someone want to stay home and clean (which I despise doing), make meals and take care of kids and that be ‘it’. I wanted to be a godly woman, and I wanted career, an amazing family and a magnificent home.
The game changer
I had all plans of continuing to work once my little one was born. On that day in April, 8 years ago when I held my little man for the first time, something happened, I realized how important this child was, how I had been given the blessing of creating an eternal being and that it was my responsibility (along with his father) to raise him in the way of Lord like is says in Deuteronomy chapter 11 verse 19 “You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
Nothing else (besides my relationship with God and my marriage) that I could ever do would be as valuable as raising our children to know the Lord. We are to teach them, disciple them, be with them as they are walking down the path of life.
Godly motherhood is under attack
The enemy wants our families and our children. He doesn’t want us to have strong families, he doesn’t want your children to be taught the things of God. He knows that eternity is at stake here. He has been working since the beginning of time to break and devalue the family unit. Look at how society has lied to us about our value.
It tells women that it is more important that they go out and get a job than to stay at home and raise their own children. We have bought so much into this lie that we are willing putting our children into daycare when some are still only months old (please know that I am not speaking to single mothers or wives whose husbands are incapable to work).
The world likes to tell us that it important that we as mothers feel fulfilled and that we accomplish something. The reality is that our worth does not come from what we do but rather who you are and that you are a child of the king. You have worth because God gives us worth.
What can be more meaningful that raising the next generation?
I know that this may ruffle a few feathers, especially as a recovering feminist, but if we examine the Bible the women were called to raise the family. Look at Titus chapter 2 verses 3-5, where Paul tells the older women to teach the younger women to keepers of the home.
God designed women from the beginning for a different role. We aren’t equal, we are different and that is the beauty of it. The Bible calls us to train our children and if we are going to be honest how can you train your children if they are only with you for an hour a day? Women, our children need us we need now, we only have one try with them.
The reluctant house wife
Yes, from an outsider looking in, it may seem meaningless and redundant and I would be lying if I said that every day is amazing and Pinterestable. I am a sinner raising sinners, it is messy work but I have been given a job just like you and we are the only ones’ that are qualified for this position.
You have the chance to shape a few individuals lives forever, and that is a humbling thought. You have been given a few disciples and you are called to train them in the ways of the Lord, to raise up godly men and women for the next generation.
While I may never be prime minister, and I won’t be remembered in the history books for inventing a cure for cancer or solving the world’s problems, I am going to be known by God for being faithful with the little ones He gave me.
I will be remembered in the history of his books for dong that and who knows only time will tell, maybe one of my children’s children may be a ‘Timothy, a John Calvin, or a Martin Luther.’ But more importantly I am leaving a spiritual heritage for my children and I am being faithful for the ‘
Genevieve Wilson is a happily married stay at home, home-schooling mum of 3, whose passion is to see people come to know Jesus. She is a seminary wife to her amazing husband and has worked 8 years as a missionary with Youth with a Mission (YWAM). She has a heart for justice.