This Is A Call

Can anyone truly define a mother? Dictionary.com's first definition of mother is " female parent." What about a wife? Once again, Dictionary.com's definition is "a woman joined in marriage to a man."

Now are these definitions correct? Of course. But when I hear them put this way it just falls short. As a woman who's main calling in life is to be a mother and wife is this all that I am?

Sometimes when I think to myself about being a mom and wife I think about all the things that I do....

From the moment we marry we are helpers to our husbands. We cook and clean and do the laundry; pay the bills and keep the house in order; we try and please them and support them every way we can.

Then we become pregnant with our first baby! From that moment on we sacrifice our bodies for this baby, we carry him/her for 9 months and go through unsurpassable pain to bring this baby into the world. We then give up our sleep, time, energy, looks, alone time, shower time, new clothes, and even our meal time at times for this child. Not only that, but we continue to cook and clean and do the laundry; pay the bills and keep the house in order; and try to please our husbands and support them every way we can....

And this can get tiring at times to say the least!

Sometimes when I wake up in the morning and jump right into "mommy mode" and begin cleaning up the kitchen and making breakfast, I find myself wondering, 'what is all this for?'

I have been feeling this a lot lately and God has heard my heart. He has answered me in multiple ways. The main one being His Word. As I was reading last night this verse popped out of the pages to me:

*Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. ¹⁹Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. ²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. ²¹Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. ²²Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. ²³Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, ²⁴knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.You are serving the Lord Christ. Col 3:18-24*

The areas in bold are what really stood out to me. By serving my family, by doing all of these things and sacrificing daily I am most certainly serving the Lord! What motivation is greater than that? And not only am I called to serve and love them, but with "sincerity of heart!"

So, the next time you think of yourself as a mother or wife feel honored that the Lord has called you to such great service and know that even vacuuming can be a way to worship God and He will give you the strength to do it!