Sunday, January 20, 2013

The Nobility of Motherhood

Let's Get Social Sunday  



Since when did it become a "little thing" to be a mother?  One of the blog posts I read this week involved a SAHM having trouble filling out employment sections of applications.   (I don't know if this was an application for employment, college, sweepstakes, or whatever.)  What do you put when it comes to "most recent job"?  Many commenters offered suggestions of which most had corporate-sounding names: "COO - Chief Operating Officer of the X-Family", and others like that.  My issue is not with the blogger or with the commenters.  The titles chosen, if applied in the outside world, would accurately reflect the duties performed by the person in question.  I support my "sisters", be they single or married, with kids or not, working outside the home or not.  My beef is with whomever decided that being a woman, wife, mother was "not enough".

Some years ago, an young woman found out she was pregnant.  Her fiance knew the child was not his, biologically, but chose to stand by the young woman.  (BTW, how cool is THAT?)  When she was in labor, the local hospital maternity ward was overflowing and she had to give birth in a ... less than antiseptic location.  Word got around, and many people brought the new mom and little baby boy gifts due to the unusual way in which he was brought into the world.

A short time after that, the "father" came in and said, "Honey, we gotta move...like now."  Still recovering from childbirth, the new mom was probably less than thrilled.  "We're going WHERE? WHEN?  That's not really an ideal neighborhood...."  Well, the long and the short of it was, they went.  A couple of years later, they were able to return to their old neighborhood.

When the boy was 12, he disappeared on a shopping trip.  The parents went out of their minds with worry.  And where did they find him?  In a room full of old men!  These days, the police would probably run background checks on all the old guys, to make sure none of them had criminal records.  But this was another day, another time.  Turns out all that happened was some rather educational discussions.

This boy went on to be many things to many people.  On his death "bed", he asked a friend of his to look after his mother.  She had a profound effect on her children, and through them, a much larger audience.

If anyone were to tell Mary, or her son Jesus, that being a wife or mother was not a noble pursuit for a woman, ... well, I'm sure they would have indicated their disagreement in some form or fashion.  Now I used  this example because I am a Christian.  I know there are similar examples of noble womanhood in other belief systems and faiths, and encourage those whose spiritual beliefs are different from mine to share their stories too!

In fact, I am asking for your opinion, not only of my writing on this post, but also of the idea behind it.  Your thoughts are IMPORTANT to me.  I would be honored to read your comment below.

IMO (In My Opinion), we need to reclaim the dignity and power of the names "woman", "wife" and "mother" ... regardless of the individual circumstances in which we find ourselves.  We are the tenders of the hearth, the nurses of the sick, the teachers with students in many stages of life, the team-players.  We have the hands that rock the cradle.  Whether our influence stretches only to the closest four walls, or around the globe, we change the world every day.

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NOTE:  This post was edited to reflect it being submitted to the Thursday Favorite Things link-up at Katherine's Corner.  Other entries are accessible by using the button above.

14 comments:

  1. There is no doubt that society puts a heavy load on women. We struggle between being a single mother from whatever reason - having to be head of household caring for our older parents. Some of these circumstances threw us out into the world like it or not, to earn a living while still having the burdens of motherhood.
    I understand what you're saying. Being wife and mother is a duty that has been undervalued, but one who was ever a mother would know it certainly isn't an easy job to do well. Have a great week!

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  2. It seems that nothing is sacred any more, including motherhood. Your post was well written and I enjoyed it a lot.

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  3. Following from the Favorite Things blog hop. Wise words. I often think how society undervalues good mothers. We nurture tomorrow's leaders while being the caretakers of yesterday's achievers and still manage to make history ourselves. cheermamadrama.blogspot.com

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  4. Thanks Self. Love your logo/button BTW! I think single mothers should get like extra entries in the drawing of life, especially those without a family or "community" for built-in support.

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  5. I appreciate your kind words, bettyl. Mostly I to plan/schedule topics for posts, but this one came at me like a train from the side, yelling, "pay attention to me"! I enjoyed looking at your series of NZ's old church photos.

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  6. You are so right, Chrishelle! I never thought of having my kids guest post for me. *hehehe*

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  7. This was a great post!

    I swear I must live in my old world because I value being a mom so much. But I must admit when I wasn't a mom I did not appreciate it as much.

    And now having to choose between being a mom and working is simply just rediculous in my eyes. I feel the the women in Proverbs 31 didn't have to choose. She worked, and still raised her family and that to me is very noble and that's who I strive to be.

    It doesn't really matter if the world doesn't find it to be noble but I believe my God feels that it is.

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  8. I so agree, Felicia. I gained a whole new level of appreciate for my own Mother when I had my first child.

    And while most of us don't have the household help that P31 (makes her sound like a robot, doesn't it? *lol*) did, we do have our own communities (circles, etc), so I feel we are all called upon to work together.

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  9. Possibly the hardest yet most rewarding job is that of a mother, a wife, a homemaker. It is these women who raise the next generation to adulthood. I have never had children, nor did I ever get married but have nothing but respect for these hard working woman--I have made it my business to make sure that a working Mom (in a company I am working in) be allowed to leave early for a child-whether that child be sick or happens to be in a play. That there is discrimination against hiring women with children there is no doubt--but I for one would rather hire a Mom then almost anyone else. I loved your post-it was extremely well written!

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  10. Miki, by making it your business to help parents be present in the lives of their children, I say you have earned the right to consider yourself a parent as well. Thank you very much for your nurturing and sense of fairplay! :O)

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  11. You are very right, being a mother is very noble. Unfortunately society has decided that the amount of money one makes is more important that the amount of influence a mother has.

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  12. So true, TaMara. And speaking from a Christian perspective, what better example than Jesus's mother. While we don't know that she every worked outside, it could be argued that Mary was one of the most influential mothers the world has ever known.

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  13. I value being a mother and a grandmother. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things hop xo

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  14. I never would have guessed you were a grandma, Katherine! I am so glad Ramona pointed me in your blog's direction so I could link up, and so embarrassed that I linked up w/o putting the button in the post. Can I plead lack of caffeine?

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