#WorkingMomProblems

I've been struggling with what I should write as my first "full-length" blog...should I be light-hearted or serious?  Should I consider what people would like to read or just what's on my mind?  I decided that this little project should be what's on my mind and however that comes across is ok. So, here goes....

I am a wife.  I am a mother.  I work outside the home.  These are the facts.  I also coach two sports, one in the fall and one in the spring.  Because of these facts, the time I have with my son are sometimes limited.  When I'm coaching, I leave between 7 and 7:15 in the morning and if I have a game, might not get home until 7:00 or 8:00 in the evening (on a good day).  So, I might be home just in time to rock him to sleep.  I am all too aware that these are the "formative" years and so much learning and development takes place during this time. 

My struggle as a Christian mother is always asking, "Am I being a good example of a Christian mother by working and not taking care of my child at home?"  "Is my home suffering because I work?" "Does my family suffer spiritually because I work outside the home?"

I could compare myself to other women who work and don't work and see how I shake out, but that's not what I'm commanded to do.  I am supposed to "Be diligent to show thyself approved to God, a worker who should not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). 

I looked to see what God has said about women, the home, and parenting. 

• "Wives, submit to your own husbands, which is fitting in the Lord." (Colossians 3:18)
• "That they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." (Titus 2:4-5)
• "Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully." (I Timothy 5:14)
• "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6)
• "Do not withhold correction from a child, For if you beat him with the rod, he will not die." (Proverbs 23:13)
• "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4)

Then, because I still needed some validation, I looked at some examples in Scripture of women who owned businesses or contributed financially to their house.

• "Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God." (Acts 16:14)
• "She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands.  She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar. She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her maidservants. She considers a field and buys it; From her profits she plants a vineyard." (Proverbs 31:13-16)

After some study, I have decided that while quantity of time at home with your child is very important, quality of time spent could be even more precious.  Just because Langston and Jeremy and I are in the same house at a certain time, doesn't mean we are spending that quality time building our relationship with God and with each other.  My dishes aren't always clean and laundry will frequently pile up.  During one of my sports' season, we won't eat around the table together very much.  There will come a time when being with Langston at his events are more important than coaching.  However, my home can still be warm, inviting, and filled with the love of Christ.  I can't help but take offense when a sister in Christ insinuates that when women work it's in search of more money or material things.  That is not why I work (and if you have any clue as to what teacher's pay is, you know that).

Honestly, I have to control my jealousy and attitude toward those women who decide to work at home (and I know it is work!).  This was never a struggle before having Langston.  I suppose my conclusion is that without sacrificing your spiritual life, what works for your family works for your family. As women in Christ we should want to support each other in that.

As a working mother, I have the awesome responsibility and opportunity to be an example of Christ to those I work with.  I also know my number one priority is to get Jeremy and Langston to heaven, and bring as many people with us as I can.

"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." -Mother Teresa