Standing in line with my youngest after lunch, I eavesdropped (as I often do) on his conversation with his fellow classmates. You learn all sorts of things while volunteering and working with a bunch of seven and eight year olds.
Aside from the usual chatter over the impending recess time, there ensued a friendly game of comparison. With pride, a little girl and boy in front of my son announced their mothers' occupations and places of employment. Without hesitation, my son proudly took his turn at the mic there in the hallway. "My mom works at home! She does awesome and works so hard," gushed this sweet, beautiful boy standing a head taller than his peers and holding my heart in his hands.
Listening to his words and watching his body language as he spoke, one might have thought I was a doctor or an astronaut or Nobel Prize recipient.
My own pride (of a different sort) reminded him that I am a writer, too, but somehow, in his eyes, my mothering overshadowed any other job I had or hat I put on.
It is so easy to forget the importance of and minimize the task of simply being a mother. One of my recurring struggles, as I'm sure it is with many stay at home moms, is the feeling of not being good enough or I should be doing more or if only I had an office to go to and a business suit to wear.
The truth is, this place where God has called me is important. In fact, this job that occupies every hour in my day and offers no reprieve, this role of mother and wife, is the most important thing I will do on earth. This is my purpose, my ministry, the one place from which all other assignments I face have their origin.
When my alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. this morning there was no briefcase to grab or business suit to put on. There are no corporate bosses depending on me. There is no staff waiting for instruction, no cash register waiting to be filled, or no operating room needing my expertise.
But there is a husband needing encouragement, support, and a cup of coffee to go.
There is a girl becoming an adult who needs a friend and still wants her mama.
There is a sixteen year old boy who needs unconditional love and truth and chocolate chip pancakes in the morning.
There is an eight year old who needs bedtime stories at night and reassurance when people hate and the world is scary.
So I embrace this task before me. I choose to cherish these moments that don't always come with gratification or accolades or certificates of a job well done. I offer my service and my talents from this place I call home and today, it is well with my soul.
Where are you today? Do you find yourself in a place where you feel unimportant and invisible? Choose to embrace the place God has called you, wherever it may be, and know you can make a difference right where you are.
"I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book, before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:14-16
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