The Honor of Being a Woman
I often run into those that have strong opinions about children and families in general. Maybe it’s because of the sheer number of children I have in tow. Maybe it’s because they see such atrocities in this world that they fear bringing children into this uncertain world. What I do know is that so many women, and men for that matter, don’t value the role of being a mother.
And then there’s that huge portion of a generation of women who fear getting older, and becoming a grandmother. Why is it that? We see all around us such a breakdown of the family for various reasons?
I believe one of the greatest privileges a woman can have is being a mother. But it doesn’t stop there ladies. To be a grandmother and great grandmother – wow, what an honor!
I grew up with all four of my grandparents and three great-grandparents. To see that God would keep them on earth long enough to see their children’s, children’s, children is quite an honor, not a burden.
Why do so many see this life through the lens of self-gain and self-absorbed? What will that do other than promote you to emptiness? They miss out on the greatest gift God could ever give a woman – a heritage, a legacy, a purposed-life of influencing the next generation. The list could go on.
I’ve had so much fun raising my own children. And almost 30 years later, I’m still in that season. Jason and I are in the busiest years we have ever been. We wear a lot of hats right now and juggling priorities has become a daily activity for both of us.
When we had all little children, training was one of my favorite parts of mothering. Teaching them scripture memory, teaching manners, training attentiveness and loving on them was all a part of the daily routine. I wasn’t perfect at it; I’ve still not mastered training in every season. None of the roles we are called to are made to be easy. But it was fun, and still is challenging.
Mothers are always juggling necessary versus unnecessary, keeping the priorities of the family inline, and being gatekeepers of our homes. That’s an entire job in itself.
Some of my favorite times are when we regroup around the dining room table, or in the family room, singing songs with the piano accompaniment. I enjoy watching their little minds learn about the world around them and seeing their eyes light up when they learn new things. I smile when the middle ones are eager to help someone that is hurting or sick, and the older ones blossoming into adulthood. Memorizing Psalm one as a family for direction, or Psalm 91 for warfare, just one verse at a time, until we can recite it without hesitation, is one of my greatest joys. These moments bless my soul. And I really believe this is how I can honor God in the role He has given me.
I feel extremely grateful to be a part of a vital role that God calls mothers to be to her family, and to show us all mercy as we speak into that child’s life. That He would call me to this job is quite humbling.
Yes, child-training will be monotonous at times. Sure, it can be discouraging when someone reminds you that your children need to know “XYZ” at this age. We can also be hard on ourselves, but it’s probably because we want to do what we do well and right by our families. Reflecting back on the past nearly 30 years of motherhood, I can remember God giving me the strength to push forward when I became weary. He gave me little glimpses of hope in the midst of very hard times. I could not have done any of that alone, and alone I felt at different times in my walk. But He was with me… everyday He was there when I wanted to just rest my weary head. Galatians 6:9
My prayer today, for all of my children and grandchildren, is when they look into their children’s eyes, they have God’s strength to push forward, to teach and train even when life gets hard, to love generously, to persevere, to not become weary in well doing, and to be encouraged by God’s constant presence because He says He cares for us. He knows our every need. And He certainly loves our children more than we can comprehend.
And for the generations that are to come, take the scriptures to memorize, use the training and instruction given, and play the beautiful music we’ve learned as a family, to pass those down, and that it may go on, and on, and on for a thousand generations.
Generationally, it is an honor to be just a small part of a much bigger picture that God has already laid out.
I think back, sometimes at my lack of faith on this journey as a woman and how terrible it would have been if someone had not shared the Truth with me. I became a believer as an adult, so it’s never too late to surrender your life to Him. But mothers, listen. The world is not telling our children the Truth. We see it in our schools. We hear the fear-mongering. We are affected by tragedies, no matter how large or small.
We need to be memorizing and living out Psalm 1 with our families every day. The woman is blessed when she rejects the council of the world! Allowing the world to train our children would be a horrible tragedy. The world tells women that we are not equipped to train. They strip mothers of their confidence. And they convince us that our children are not worth our time.
Those ideologies the world throws at us are designed to distract and mislead. Evil is being taught as good. And good is being taught as evil. We see the scales out of balance more and more. My husband is famous in our house with the saying, “There is no right way to do the wrong thing.”
If you know the Bible, you know the Truth. If you understand the Cross and why we need the Gospel, then you know how to discern what is evil, and what is righteous. Our children desperately need to see us leading the way on what reality is.
Mothering and grand-mothering is an honor.
It’s about choosing what kind of generational mindset you leave them with.
With love and grace-
Natalie