By: Erin Davis
I was in a room of women once. We were introducing ourselves with by answering the standard openers…”What’s your name?” and “Where do you work?”
“Teacher.”
“Writer.”
“Case Manager.”
Everyone took a turn. Except for one woman who seemed to be trying to melt into the wall. When someone asked her what she did, she timidly said one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard a mom say…
“I’m just a mom.”
Just a mom? As in I just take care of tiny human beings. I just manage the finances of an entire household. I just take care of the dietary, hygiene, emotional, and spiritual needs of an entire group of people. I just guide my children to know and love God. I just teach reading, and math, and home ec in the laboratory of life.
I am just the single greatest influence in my children’s life.
I know what she meant. We live in a culture that puts a whole lot of stock in what women do outside the home. But it’s not a lie we have to fall for.
G.K. Cheterton said it better than I can.
“How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic; not because it is minute.”
It doesn’t matter where your paycheck comes from (or if you even have a paycheck.). There’s no such thing as “just a mom.” Moms are the gatekeepers of their homes. They are the guards of their children’s hearts. They are the givers of life. They are the nurturers of love, and joy, and peace, and giftedness.
Let’s make a vow right here, right now together.
Repeat after me…
“I will never apologize for being a mom.”
One more time with feeling.
“I will never apologize for being a mom.”
What you are doing matters. The culture may not see it. Your children may never recognize the breadth of it. But none of that changes the fact that God has entrusted you with tremendous responsibility.
So, heads high mommas. We are fulfilling a high and holy calling. The next time someone asks you what you do, drop that little j-word.
Try this instead. “I’m a mom. And I’m changing the world for Jesus one child at a time.”
A popular speaker, author and blogger, ERIN DAVIS has addressed women of all ages nationwide and is passionately committed to sharing God’s Truth with others. She is the author of several books including Graffiti: Learning to See the Art in Ourselves, True Princess: Embracing Humility in an All About Me World, The Bare Facts with Josh McDowell and the Beyond Bath Time: Embracing Motherhood As a Sacred Role. When she’s not writing books, you can find Erin chasing down chickens and children on her small farm in the Midwest.