Whether it is the look I get when I say I have three or more children, that awkward beat when I assure someone, I truly want to keep my baby, or the visible disappointment and criticism on my job when I decided to leave to have more time for my family, it is apparent to me that the roll of motherhood has been devalued. Much of which has been self-inflicted by mothers themselves. However, biblical motherhood’s value is not really on the decline, its value is more apparent as many mothers abort their babies and abandon the home. Anything that becomes rare
generally increases in value.
Many women have been at the crossroads, where the choice must be made to walk down the road of a career with the freedom to travel, “live well,” and drive nice, or down the road of childbearing with many late nights, minivans, less money, and less personal time. There are also mothers that have decided to chart the path of the career-minded mother, attempting to have it all. However, many times women are left with guilt, unable to achieve the very delicate balance it takes between needs and wants, and those of the children.
Since the second wave of the feminist movement, in an attempt to raise the value of womanhood to that equal of a man in the home and the workplace, it has been almost forgotten that women are naturally the incubators and nurtures, something no man can do, which affords us an intrinsic value that cannot be replicated. Just like Satan assumed he could rise in rank (he fell), and he tricked Eve in the garden (leading to the fall), he is up to the same old trick even now. When women become dissatisfied with the God ordained sex and seek to “promote” the role of the woman out of place, it leads to extremely negative consequences, most of which directly affect the family. Feminism is indeed a war on God’s set design for women and set order of the family. It is a gross misuse of the woman and displacement of the man, leaving many families as a casualty of war.
We cannot forget that children are an inheritance and a reward from the Lord (Ps 127:3). Are we squandering our inheritance in search of some greater purpose? We are the hands that rock the cradle; we in many ways shape the next generation. We are the incubators, the nurturers, the teachers. Our place in our families and homes cannot be overstated. As we search for purpose and fulfillment, let us remember to look into the eyes of our children and see that purpose and fulfillment are staring right back us.
