Bless-ed Monotony

“You’re going to be bored.”

“You won’t know what to do with yourself.”

Those were the “encouraging” words a few of my co-workers had for me when I gave my notice to quit my banking career so I could stay home full time with our eight month old daughter twenty-three years ago.

The fact is that as a stay-at-home mom to five children I have seldom found myself bored. Depressed? Discouraged? On the brink of despair? Yes, on all three counts, and on more than one occasion – but never bored. In fact, it’s been quite the opposite. There has never been a shortage of tasks needing my attention: cooking, cleaning, laundry, wiping runny noses, changing diapers and the list goes on. But what was and remains a challenge is the monotony of everyday life that can drive us moms crazy, and even lead to disillusionment. Sometimes we just want to make our mark on the world; to do something—anything—important!

One of Satan’s greatest weapons is to make us feel discontent;  to make us long for something other–something more–to distract us from making the most of the time we have now. He whispers to us telling us we’re not making our mark on the world because we don’t have fame, we don’t have a fascinating career, we don’t have a bazillion facebook friends, or any number of lies he feeds our thoughts to make us feel insignificant. His goal is to get our minds off the world-changing calling God has given us to instead give our attention to feeding the desire to be “important” in the world’s eyes.

As moms, what we’re doing is important and of ultimate significance. We’re making a mark on eternity just by virtue of shaping these little (and not so little) ones into the next generation of firebrands for God’s Kingdom. It does get monotonous, but so does every job.

Faithfulness is what matters here.  It can be burdensome doing the same things day in and day out. But when we take on motherhood, we sign up for a lifetime of active duty in our children’s lives along with everything it entails. Our kids need us to be there. It’s irrelevant to them whether or not we feel important. Instead, they need us to be stable and dependable. They need us to care for their physical needs. They need us to encourage them. They need us to model for them what it means to be faithful.  What will make a lasting impression is not what we’ve achieved in our personal lives, but how faithful we’ve been in this most important job of motherhood God has called us to.

I read the following verses in Proverbs the other day and was reminded that our children become faithful followers of Jesus through a lifetime of watching us be faithful followers of Jesus.

“My son, keep your father’s command, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching. Always bind them to your heart; tie them around your neck. When you walk here and there, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you wake up; they will talk to you. For a commandment is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective instructions are the way to life.”     ~Proverbs 6:20-23

So the next time you have one of those, “I WANT TO SCREAM THIS IS SO MONOTONOUS!” days, remember that God honors faithfulness in your life and that is what is truly important.

Blessings as you press on, Barb

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