Honoring The High Calling Of Motherhood In Your Life

I believe that honoring the high calling of motherhood is something that most moms WANT to do. But in a world so full of distractions and negative messaging towards motherhood, embracing this call needs to be an everyday choice. Through all of my own mistakes and flaws, I have discovered that there is nothing more rewarding than giving myself over to the calling of motherhood, and all that it has to teach me. I hope this post will help you to see the beauty in your own mothering journey.

Desiring Motherhood

Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to be a mother. I think many young girls dream of motherhood one day. However, I had no idea that the high calling of motherhood would grip my heart so tightly. The love I have for my children is all encompassing, and my days spent with them as a stay-at-home mom are precious to me. What I’ve learned though, is that embracing the calling of motherhood on a daily basis, is a choice. 

There is something happening right now in our culture. An increasing number of young women are realizing that much of the “feminist” belief system, has led them astray. The ideas that women don’t NEED men, and that being a mother is a waste of their time, are beginning to crumble. Women are starting to really feel the calling of motherhood on their hearts, as well as aspire to learn what it means to be a Godly mother. Through the power of the internet, older women are encouraging younger women – which is a biblical calling in and of itself. Christian women are coming together and glorifying God’s design in motherhood, which of course, the culture hates. 

A Cultural Crisis

In my opinion, where our culture went wrong, is when the role of motherhood started being viewed as “less than”. When women started believing that the good work they were doing for their families was a waste of time, things started to crumble. 

The reality is, when women choose to reject the calling of motherhood, and the importance of their role within the fabric of family life – the tapestry begins to unravel. In the same way that this world needs young men to take their place as Godly fathers, it also needs young women to step into the role of Godly mothers.

These lies have tainted the minds of too many young women, making it more challenging to fully embrace, and honor the calling of motherhood. Just from my own experiences, I have felt the need to explain, and even defend, my desire to leave my career and stay home with my children. The choice to set aside money and “success”, in order to be more present and available to my husband and children, was something that many people raised their eyebrows at. I certainly do not believe that all women have to be stay-at-home moms in order to embrace motherhood – that was just my journey. But It goes against the grain, and against almost all of the feminist ideology.

Some of that ideology had, (without me realizing), crept into certain areas of my heart and mind over the course of my life. So for me, embracing the calling of motherhood in my own life was very much a choice, and one that I had to come to terms with over time. But the Holy Spirit has been chiseling away at those things, and revealing the true glory of Christian motherhood to me. 

I am in a place right now in my life, where I truly believe that the calling of motherhood, is in fact, a woman’s highest calling. Not only because of the relational blessings between my own children and myself, but also because of how God uses my motherhood to refine my heart – in all areas of life. 

The Role Of Motherhood within a family

I believe that the role of motherhood within a family, is an extremely important part of how that family operates. I also believe that fathers have an incredible role and responsibility as well – one that is designed by God for men to carry. Men and women are made uniquely wonderful, and especially different from each other. 

The feminist message, that preaches there is nothing men can do better than women, is an outright lie. Men are designed and created to carry out their calling within their families, and that is an entirely different calling than women. I am so thankful that my husband is strong where I am weak, and I’m thankful that God has made me strong, where my husband is lacking. As women, we don’t have to be the same as men…in fact, we’re not supposed to be. We have been created to compliment our husbands, not compete with them. 

Prioritizing The Calling of Motherhood

As Christian mothers, the most important thing we can do is prioritize our family and our home. This doesn’t mean we can’t have lives outside of the house, or that we can’t have a career that we love. Of course we can – those are good, and can be a Holy calling all on their own. God values women greatly, and there is nothing wrong with women pursuing their dreams. God cares so much about all the little details of your life, and I believe He wants you to pursue the desires He places inside of your heart.

However, whether you are a working mother, or a stay-at-home mom, the most important role you will ever carry in life, is that of being a mother. And there is so much more to motherhood than just birthing babies. As mothers, we have the amazing privilege of creating a loving, safe place for our children to grow up. As women, we have been given the ability to nurture, in ways that only we can do. If we embrace this gifting, we can do great things for our families, and show the love of God to everyone around us. 

The calling of motherhood also involves the hard work of home management, which is a learned skill. This is where older women can be so helpful to younger women – by guiding and sharing the wisdom they have learned throughout their years. Nursing babies, raising children, and organizing multiple schedules, all while trying to keep a clean house, is no small task! Thankfully, God has equipped us with the ability to do these things – never perfectly, because we are imperfect beings – but He designed us to be capable. Honoring the high calling of motherhood includes leaning into these areas of our lives, learning from those around us, and embracing the responsibilities laid before us. 

>>>Read: Traditional Christian Homemaking – The Biblical Perspective

Social Messaging

Right now on social media, there is a trend that promotes a woman’s life as praise worthy, and yet, demeans the life of a man. This trend is all about making fun of “stupid dads”, but praising mothers for every little thing. There is meme after meme floating around, showcasing women laughing at their husbands expense. As a young woman and mother myself, this is something I have chosen to guard myself against. At surface value, many of these are seemingly lighthearted, and just good for a chuckle. But there’s a message behind it all, that aims to demolish the mutual respect that should exist between a husband and wife. 

The daily choice to honor the calling of motherhood, includes being intentional about what we allow into our hearts and minds. How can we fully honor the role God has given us, if at the same time, we are dishonoring the role that God gave to fathers? The answer is simple – we can’t do both. I know from my own experience, that taking in messaging like this, only leads to feelings of resentment and discontent. As a Christian woman who is doing my best to embrace the calling God has on my life, this is the last thing I need.

Mothering With A Purpose

I believe that when we honor the calling of motherhood on our lives, we are are choosing to mother our kids with a purpose. In doing so, we need to focus primarily on two things:

• Teaching our children the love of God
• Embracing the full realm of spiritual motherhood

Teaching our children the love of God:

The Bible says in Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” This needs to be our main goal as mothers. Above all the housework and daily schedules, this needs to be our focus. There is nothing that is worth our time and attention, more than this. However, we can’t accomplish this by simply reading Bible stories to our children – there needs to be more. We need to be living out what it looks like to put our faith in Christ, to forgive, and to love unconditionally. 

Embracing the full realm of spiritual motherhood: 

This means tapping into the grace and forgiveness that Jesus offers us, and allowing Him to refine us through our motherhood. In the past 11 years since my oldest was born, nothing has shown me my many flaws, more than motherhood has. But through all of my mistakes and misjudgements, God continues to refine me. He softens my heart more and more to the calling of motherhood, and I’m seeing how He uses it to pour blessings into my life.

When I choose to remain humble, work hard, and have a servant’s heart towards my family, God speaks to me. Not audibly of course, but in little nuggets of wisdom here and there. Sometimes, while I’m washing the dishes, He will show me the solution to an issue with the kids. Other times, while I’m buying groceries, He gently reminds me not to respond to my husband out of my current emotion. When I embrace motherhood as a calling, and invite God into the very heart of my “mom life”, it’s like inviting a rocket scientist into a kindergarten class for a science experiment. The results are incredible! 

Finding The Balance

As modern women, I think we can all relate to the struggle of trying to balance it all! Because we live in a culture that seems to value a busy schedule, we can often feel like we have to do everything! We can easily take on too much, and find ourselves completely burnt out and exhausted. 

Everyone has areas of their life that simply cannot be set aside. But if we are making the choice to commit ourselves to the calling of motherhood, there will be times when we need to say “no” to something, in order to put our family first. 

This is especially true when our children are still at a young age, and they just “need mommy”. Sometimes, it’s easy to brush that off, or convince ourselves of the lie that our kids being too attached to us, is bad for them. The truth is, having a strong parental attachment only benefits your child. It helps the child regulate their emotions, build confidence, and handle stress. There are many articles you can read about this topic, but here is one that discusses the nine ways that a strong parental attachment benefits children.

The Calling Of Motherhood

Every family is different, which means that every mother will be different too. How we express our love and commitment to our children will vary from person to person. Therefore, there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to how we carry out our calling as mothers. But I do know one thing for sure – if you are a mom, then leaning into God’s calling for your life will never return void. With God’s help, you can be the mother He wants you to be, regardless of your own personal experiences in life. Choosing to honor the calling of motherhood each and every day is a life changing experience. Embrace what it means to be a mom, pray for guidance, and block out any negative messaging from our culture. Motherhood is complex, but beautiful – and there is no better mother for your kids, than you!

Blessings!

~Maryann