Posted on 05/09/2021 6:00:20 AM PDT by Kaslin
After a year of navigating lockdowns and a constant barrage of dizzying messaging telling us what we can and can’t do, I’ve noticed a troubling theme when it comes to motherhood: “It’s too much.” Recent studies have confirmed this, with stress, depression and anxiety among moms rising to concerning heights.
As a mom of two middle schoolers, I have easily let these emotions seep in as we’ve navigated distance learning, argued over places to get some personal space in our home and wrestled with the need for social interactions with friends who may not share the same philosophies on gathering.
But as a Christian mom, I think there is something deeper going on in our souls than just the effects of a global pandemic.
The truth is, 38 years ago, before this generation of moms was even born, our society made a decision affecting hundreds of millions of parents and children. When abortion was legalized, we wrote it into law; women can choose if a child would be “too much.”
In our culture, we are told children should rank below attending college, below the ability to go out at your leisure. They are to rank below exercising at the gym, below any job you may have or financial stability you hope to achieve. Children rank below your desire to focus on your own “self-care.” In fact, there is a creeping normalization that it’s OK to regret having children.
If you grow up in this narrative, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. We have collectively bought into the cultural lie that motherhood means the death of your previous self, that motherhood is a rock-bottom job to be feared and avoided.
But popular culture is wrong. Motherhood is a gift; it’s a calling. And while it’s not a role for the faint of heart, it’s a role created by God as an opportunity to shape the future.
As Psalm 127:4 says, “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.” Children are arrows. And we’re the warriors who launch them. These arrows we carve, shape and balance are going to reach far beyond the present. They’re what God is going to use tomorrow. As the nations rage, it's our children who will be on the offense. And we are the ones to direct these arrows for that role.
That’s a tall order and a seemingly impossible role that goes beyond the current cultural celebration of self. Christian moms are working in enemy territory while the world rages and crumbles and tells us that our future is more important than our children’s. But that’s why Galatians 2:20 says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
Without a biblical perspective, the thought of laying down your own life, as Christians are called to do, is terrifying. It is that very fear that drives the abortion industry: fear that your dreams will die, that your future will die, that your freedom will die.
But for Christians, death to self is not the end of the story. We know what follows death. The Christian life is resurrection life, a life that conquers death.
Our culture says children are burdensome, that they are just too hard, too challenging, too much. But God says children are gifts. Yes, they can be difficult. Yes, they can absolutely push us to our limits. Motherhood is a selfless opportunity to impact generations to come. And it’s a gift we shouldn’t take lightly.
Happy Mother’s Day. Thank your mom (and dad) for your existence.
Wasn’t it 48 years ago...? 1973...
Being a mother is the absolute most difficult job there is. That’s because it is the most important job we will ever do. Happy Mother’s Day and God Bless.
I think of my great great great grandmother, on the plains of West Texas, husband gone off to the Civil War, 4 kids, Indian attacks, diseases unchecked, no communication, lack of food, water, support and they all survived it. Tough times now, oh yea.
And thanks Mom, sorry about all the trouble and worry I caused, the good news is you only know about half of it.
Rd later.
I think being a mom was a bit too much for Lynn Cheney, considering how her daughters turned out (Liz Cheney and Mary Cheney).
Tough times now, oh yea.”
Women in the same place as your 3x great grandmother is EXACTLY what passed thru my mind reading this whinge.
Keep in mind: It’s easy to be a mother, but not easy to be a parent. Thanks, Mom. Also, thanks Dad...you two were a fantastic team and that made for great parents!
38 years ago? This is a big problem on the Right. No, Roe v. Wade was 48 years ago. The America you remember was longer ago than you might think in many ways.
The column is solid beyond that. When you have children your life is not over. That messaging is constant in popular culture with essentially nothing to counter it. Whoring around in bars and hooking up with people on “dating apps” might be over. Adding to your collection of STD’s might be over. Being drunk and high all the time might be over. Life is just beginning. THIS is the meaning and authenticity these young people claim to be seeking.
Women are having fewer children than ever. They are also less happy than ever. Sitting in a cubicle moving numbers around on an Excel spreadsheet while plotting which boss to have an affair with (and how best to sue for sexual harassment when he doesn’t leave his wife) vs. raising children. Men have similar horrible messaging directed at them by the same people.
Feminism is poison. It is a weapon that has been used to destroy the family structure. You’ve come a long way, baby.
Bravo! You know, from personal experience and observation I've come to realize that women that say that motherhood is "too much" have one of two things in common, if not both. They are either A) extremely selfish, or B) they are single mothers, or women that are married to selfish men that don't help out as a parent. Being a parent in general is exponentially harder if you are selfish, or doing it alone.
We have medication now so we can avoid coping
It is hard to be a Mom when you have a full time job outside of the home, society expects women in their 50s to look 25, the schools are countervailing normal traditional values with junk science and fake woke virtues, and creepy crap is available with just a few key strokes.
My Mom, who was an amazing mother, once told me that she couldn’t imagine trying to raise us while working a full-time job. Being a Mom was her full-time job. She didn’t know how I did both.
I can be honest and say I was a great manager/executive and a lousy mother. If I could do it again, I would change everything. Now that my kids and I are older, but still young enough to need me, I’m doing my best to put them first.
My only saving grace is that my kids know I love them, whole-heartedly and unconditionally, that I am in their corner and have their back, that I will move mountains for them, that I empowered them to love learning and seek knowledge, that I will tell them when they are wrong and make them face the consequences.
God blessed me with three amazing kids, funny, smart, kind, and talented. I’m not a helicopter mommy by any stretch, but if you mess with my babies, I become a nuclear bomb laden, flame throwing, 50 cal spraying apache helicopter Mom that will destroy you, your village, and your descendents to the 3rd generation.
Please everyone! It’s not mom, it’s Birthing Person!
Amen!
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