Working Moms – Part 4 of 4

Interestingly, the Proverbs 31 woman was not suppressed by the male-dominated culture. In those days, it was expected of most women to care solely for their homes. They seldom had equal opportunities and most of them were uneducated. Sadly, it’s still like this today in many countries and cultures around the world.

This woman described in Proverbs 31, however, was someone with authority. She had the freedom to make her own business decisions and to earn her own money. Nowhere in the passage does it mention that her husband controlled her affairs. He doesn’t even seem to be threatened by her business savvy. Instead, he seems to have had full confidence in her decisions and even praised her for her accomplishments.

She seems to have been her own boss, which would have allowed her to choose her own hours. Perhaps, when her children were small, she didn’t have so much time on her hands to pursue being an entrepreneur. During this time, she might have acquired or developed skills that later became useful in business ventures.

Sometimes even hobbies become careers. Endeavor to put your energy into those things that give you fulfillment, and God will bless you. Never underestimate the potential that God has placed in you. Give yourself permission to be the unique you that He made you to be, and watch Him put it all together.

No matter the job, business, or career, we must never make money our priority. We cannot serve both money and God because our hearts will follow after one master or the other. That doesn’t mean that we can’t pray and ask God to give us success in our work, but if money becomes the issue, then it will have control over us. If we live for the pursuit of money, we will rob ourselves of living joy-filled lives.

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Working Moms – Part 3 of 4

Sometimes you may be doing what God has called you to do, but you continue to feel unfulfilled. When my first two were still in diapers and I was their primary caregiver, I knew that I was in the center of God’s will, but it was a constant struggle. Regularly I felt as if I was dying a hundred deaths. Those are the times when we must learn how to draw strength from God.

Perhaps you feel that your efforts are going unnoticed. Maybe you’re wondering why you even bother. Give yourself a break once in a while. Reward yourself for those “thankless” jobs. Go and have some fun… make a memory… be creative.

One thing that I want to make clear is that God never intended women to be suppressed in the home. There’s much more to moms than cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, and so forth. Those jobs in themselves can take up all of one’s day. For me, it felt as if I was one of those pet hamsters running endlessly in a suspended wheel.

The good news is that God created moms to use their different gifts and talents as much as everyone else. In the Bible, there were a number of women who had jobs and who were leaders. Some even supported Jesus and His disciples financially. Most of these women were probably mothers, but they were also involved in the world around them.

One of the best examples of an all-round woman is the famous woman of Proverbs 31. It’s possible that she wasn’t a real person, but rather a representation of an ideal woman. Whoever she might have been, I didn’t always like her. She was too perfect and seemingly able to accomplish everything with superhuman strength. I thought, “How could the rest of us women ever hope to live up to her standard?”

I figured that, of course, her husband must have adored her. Who wouldn’t want a wife that could do everything? Yet, if you look closely you will notice that she didn’t achieve everything single-handedly. At times, she actually had others working with her. Actually, we all could accomplish much more if we had people helping us like she did. Not only can we accomplish more, but we can feel energized knowing that not everything rests on our shoulders alone.

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Working Moms – Part 2 of 4

I chose to be a stay-at-home mom while my kids were small. I knew it was the best I could do for them, but I didn’t enjoy being bound to the house. Some mothers may feel fulfilled in their role as stay-at-home moms. But, what if, like me, you have also chosen to be a stay-at-home mom but feel unfulfilled? What if you desire to be doing more than just housework? In order to keep some variety in my life, I tried different things, such as working from home to bring in a little extra money.

Choosing to stay at home to raise your children is not an easy task, especially when they are small and you still have to do everything for them. From babyhood to toddlerhood they are completely dependent upon you. There’s nothing they can do that doesn’t require some help or monitoring.

If you’re feeling stuck, then maybe it’s time you redefined yourself. With God there is infinite creativity. He can give you an idea that requires you to think outside of the box. Try to discover what you like to do and where God wants to use you.

If you work away from home and hate every minute of it, perhaps it’s for the wrong reason. Is it because you have placed more faith in that pay check than in God? He knows that you need clothes and food, but He asks you to seek His kingdom first, and then all these things will be given to you (Luke 12:22-31). God’s kingdom principles will never fail you or your family.

Linking up with Brooke @ Covered in Grace

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Working Moms – Part 1 of 4

Being a mom often requires a delicate balancing act. Sometimes, you may even feel more like the clown in the circus rather than the acrobat. Jumping from the role of wife, to mother, to employee, and all the rest, can get you into quite a knot if your rhythm is wrong. Timing and balance are of the essence.

What if you feel deep down inside that you are meant to be spending more time with your kids, but don’t think you can because you need to work to make ends meet? Deciding how much time you’re willing to spend away from your kids is one of the most crucial decisions you’ll ever make in life. At the end of the day, your family is your number one priority. A job is something that passes away, but a family is something that remains forever. Therefore, our families should come first.

So how do you get it right? Everything that I’ve written up till now has pointed to hearing from God, staying connected to Him, and knowing your own limitations. By being obedient to Him, you will have your priorities in the right order, and He will look after you.

The thing is, people too often feel pressured to make decisions that in the end were not God’s best for them. For example, money pressures can rob you by becoming work pressures. Before you know it, earning money becomes your main focus, rather than your family. The question is, will you let the pressures rob you or will you resist the pressures and submit yourself to God’s solutions? God has a solution for every problem.

The Lord knows what’s best for you and your family. You can trust Him to help you make the right decisions. You should not allow anyone or any situation to dictate to you something that goes against your own gut feelings. When the pressure is on, stop and hear from God before making a decision that you may regret later in life.

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Thankful in Times of Drudgery – Part 5 of 5

After everything the Israelites had gone through with God, they still missed out. They were stuck with old mindsets and refused to be reprogrammed. That entire first generation never made it into the Promised Land, except for the two scouts that had come back with a good report. God rewarded the two faithful scouts for having the right attitude. Those that were complaining, however, only got more misery.

Sadly, that generation had toiled their whole lives long, but had nothing to show for all their hard work. The end of their lives was as sad as the beginning. Sure, God had given them a few victories along the way, but they died without enjoying their inheritance. The Israelites never completely entered into His rest because they misunderstood what it was about. They thought it was just another one of God’s rules so they missed connecting with His heart.

Fortunately, it’s never too late to have a change of mind. The fact that they didn’t believe they could make the total transition into Kingdom thinking doesn’t mean that you can’t. So, even though we are no longer living under the Law, the Sabbath day is still a valuable part of our faith. We need a day off in the week to refuel and to stay connected with Him. However, if you have little children, they don’t miraculously become self-sufficient one day of the week so that you can just rest. They remain a full-time job. But we can choose to slow down and let go of all the other tasks clamoring for our attention.

His desire is to see us living out of His rest every day. We can achieve this by living from a place of peace rather than from a frantic frenzy. We do this when we give our cares over to Him and trust Him in every situation of our lives. We don’t have to strive in our own strength any longer.

God’s plan was that entering His rest would be a lifestyle. As you nurture a vibrant relationship in Christ, and live out of His rest, you’ll have all you need to thrive.

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Thankful in Times of Drudgery – Part 4 of 5

Passing through a desert in life is hard, going around it in circles is even harder, and hating every step of the way is just unbearable. So, what should a mom do when she feels stuck in time, or forgotten? I can’t say that I have any simple answers. All I can say is that this, too, will pass. It’s only for a time.

A friend of mine once told me that if you can’t change your problem, then change your perspective. So when you find yourself in a dry place, ask God to teach you what you have to learn. Determine to wake up every morning saying, “Good morning, God!” rather than “Good God, it's morning!”

As people of God, we’re not just supposed to survive; we’re meant to thrive! God never intended the Israelites just to survive either. He had a plan for their lives that was meant for good and not for evil. That plan included an inheritance, but they weren’t ready to enter into that inheritance.

Part of that inheritance was entering into God’s rest; a rest from work. This was called the Sabbath day. It was not just another rule. God did not make it up to lord it over them. Since they weren’t allowed to do any work on that day, it taught them to rely on God instead of their own strength. It was also God’s way of protecting them from exhaustion and burn-out.

Yes, God wanted them to be obedient and to depend on Him. But, He also wanted them to have a day to rest, to contemplate, and to recharge. Also, God intended the Sabbath rest to teach them to rest in God’s abilities in the whole of their lives.

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Thankful in Times of Drudgery – Part 3 of 5

Besides being on the same diet for forty years, the Israelites also had to follow the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. God required that at any time, day or night, if the pillar moved they had to move. Imagine how much work it took to pack up and move a nation of people with their tents and animals at a moment’s notice. What fun that must have been!

God had a reason for this. He was teaching them obedience and dependence. He wanted His children to keep their eyes on Him. Otherwise, they would have forgotten about Him long before and gone their own way.

Aren’t we the same? When things are going well, we forget to pray, but when troubles strike, we pray. Then when we do pray, we try to force His hand to fix things our way. That’s because human nature doesn’t really like submitting to God’s way. His way often seems to be the harder way. At least He cares more about us becoming like Christ than we do, so He doesn’t give in to our little tantrums.

The Israelites had a forty-year sentence. God mercifully numbered the lifespan of the first generation so that the next generation could enter the Promised Land. Sadly, the second generation didn’t learn from their parents’ mistakes. The time spent in the desert was meant to prepare them for a supernaturally blessed future, but they were slow learners.

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Thankful in Times of Drudgery – Part 1 of 5

Mother's Day 2008

Do you often feel weighed down, even overwhelmed, by the nitty-gritty of daily life? Does it sometimes seem as if there is nothing you can do to make the job of motherhood any better? Maybe you’re even ready to throw in the towel?

For those of you who are new to this blog, I’ve been following the lives of the Israelites in the time of Moses, mainly their time in the desert as they journeyed to the Promised Land. Life out in the desert wasn’t much fun. There were no shopping malls, no TVs, and no books or magazines to read. Life went on, and there were daily chores to be done. Of course, a few miracles and a few curses broke the monotony every now and again.

Forty years was a long time to be wandering. It was, of course, meant to be a punishment for the unbelief of the parents. Their children, however, had to go with them through this experience. There must have been hundreds of days that felt like drudgery to them. My few years spent stuck at home caring for a family felt something like that to me. Minutes dragged into hours and hours into days.

I spent most of my time trying to make the kids happy, preparing the meals, and cleaning the house. The down-side was that it was never-ending. It was a constant cycle of kids, meals, house, kids, meals, house, kids, meals, house, and on it went. There was little variety and a lot of work.

On my poetry blog Consider the Lilies, I have posted a poem for Mother's Day called "Gifted, Talented Woman." Here is one stanza from the poem: Without women there would be no children to see - There would be no you and also no me - No different cultures, no different faces, - No different colors and no different races...

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Giving God Control

When God is controlling our day, we won’t have any regrets. He helps us have the right perspective on ourselves, our families, and our work. He leads us through our day so that when we’re being pulled in five different directions, we can figure out what comes first and what can wait. The supernatural dictates the natural because our ability to stay close to God will determine the quality of our lives and our work.

Outside pressures only bring confusion and rob us of our peace. When the Holy Spirit from the inside is controlling us, then we’ll experience true peace of mind. He is our Prince of Peace. He is able to keep our minds from all worry and strain. We can’t look to our husbands or anyone else to give us this because they, too, can let us down. God, on the other hand, is always faithful and true.

Jesus never promised His followers an easy life, but He did promise that He would never leave them or forsake them. It’s from His Spirit that we draw that much-needed strength, that inner guidance, and that supernatural protection for ourselves and our families. With His life flowing through us, we can bear much fruit.

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