For the love

This morning was another frosty cold Northwoods day, with a biting windchill well below zero - the perfect day to snuggle up at home and not go anywhere.  I started spinning about what to do today to keep the cabin fever from setting in and I glanced up and saw the little stack of books I got for Christmas beckoning me.  I pulled out Jen Hatmaker's, "For the Love" and I'm so glad I did.  It was exactly the message I didn't know I needed to hear today.  (For the record, I read the entirety of it in about 3 hours!)

Parenting has been a little grueling lately.  After the craziness of the holidays, our kids really took some time to get back into their routine.  Nolan, especially, has really been testing the limits, and his big emotions can sometimes get the best of him.  My heart has felt heavy as sometimes I feel like I'm not enough or not equipped with the skills I need to parent my own child.

Along with these moments of self-doubt, comes some of the feelings of inadequacy that comes with the territory of being a stay-at-home mom.  I often feel like I am dismissed by other adults because of my choice to stay home.  Like I'm doing this because I don't have any other options, and not because it's a choice that our family made.  Sometimes I feel like I'm not making my own mark on society through my career or calling.  It's easy to forget that being a mother is a calling.  Perhaps the most important calling, as it shapes and forms the next generation of movers and shakers in society.  It's just that in the trenches, it's hard to remember that.

Enter this book.  As I turned to page 21, I came across this quote:

"To the Mama at home with a bunch of littles...your calling is today.  God makes you worthy as you desire goodness for your children, meeting needs and nurturing little souls.  No future calling is any more important than you current station.  Every good, meaningful possibility is yours today.  You have access to the kingdom now: the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  That is every Christian's calling, and the gospel is perfectly demonstrated through the daily labor of parenting."

Was she reading my mind?  How did she know that I absolutely needed to hear this??

As I read that passage and the rest of the book (which was equally uplifting) I felt a sense of calm and fulfillment come over me.  I was called to be a mother, and though I am not perfect, our home is full of love, kindness, and goodness.  My children are seeing examples of living the gospel though our love and care for them.

Here's one more word of encouragement that I found, so beautifully articulated from Jen's book.

"You are smart and capable, strong and wise.  You are an overcomer, a prized member of the body of Christ.  You have so much to offer.  You can gather your girlfriend tribe and raise kids together, providing the happiest childhood they ever complained about.  You can crack open your Bible and preach good news for the poor.  You can model faithful friendship around your table, and you can stretch your hand across oceans to mamas everywhere.  You can do small work.  You can do big work.  You are so able in Jesus, so beloved, so permitted."

AMEN.