from Ben's mom
Yesterday I received a call asking if I would be willing to work a conference for my former employer. Interestingly, I had dreamed that I received this call a few nights earlier. So I was ready. "No, I really wouldn't. I am happy to have that life behind me." Then I added some other polite excuses and hung up.
It started me thinking and last night I thanked my husband for his provision that enables me to live my dream. From the time I was a little girl and watched my mom care for us, I had it in my heart that being a mother who makes a difference in the lives of her family members was where it was at for me. For many years, it looked like an eternity before it could happen. And then one day, I woke up and here I am.
I have a friend who thinks staying home with her kids is a "waste of her talents." I felt sick when I heard her say that but realized that there are probably others who feel the same. I have never felt that way. My mom did not waste her talents, but instead educated, disciplined, fed, clothed, loved, and prayed for a future lawyer who makes the world a better place with his humor and love of life. (But he better slow down or God may take him home.) She did the same for me and while my accomplishments may be small in the scheme of things, I am now attempting the same for a boy who has the potential to do whatever God intends for him to do, be it pump gas (and serve customers with panache) or stem the spread of AIDS in Africa. Whatever potential he holds, I get to nourish.
And while a little extra money would be nice, with a job description like that, I really don't have time for anything else.
6 comments:
Amen and Amen. I couldn't agree more, and I know that your decision will impact Ben's life in ways that neither you or I could have imagined. He is very blessed. (And... way to go with your former employer :).
My prayer for you was that you grow up to see the big picture . You got it! That's my girl.
Love ya,
Dad
I remember one grey day -- both weatherwise and emotionally -- when I thought, "My kids will grow up and then they'll be the young, important people and I'll just fade away into nothingness. What a waste of a person."
But neither my mother nor my mother-in-law is by any means a "non-person." Looking back, I can see how their lives have enriched the world, even though in human thinking they did nothing much except raise a bunch of kids.
So thanks for the encouragement, Rachelle.
-- SJ
I remember working a temp job for a big public utilities corporation in their legal department. One young attorney had just come back to work from maternity leave. She had two kids, ages two and six weeks. I looked at the pictures of her kids on her desk and thought to myself, "Nice career you have lady, what about your kids?" I just didn't "get" how she could be so jazzed to come into work every day and defend an electric company when someone else was raising her babies.
You are right on! And your job is even more important than being a lawyer, if you take it seriously as you could be training several lawyers or whatever to follow the dream that God's put in their heart...And besides, in God's scheme of things, being the wife of a lawyer, who builds him up and keeps his home a loving safe haven from the tough world they face during the day, allows them to accomplish twice as much as they could do without you...and it's being done for both of you!
And isn't the job description: "an instiller and nurturer of dreams" awesome? This is fulfillment of the scripture that "her children rise up and call her blessed" and adds to the fulfillment that I've always had just being there
for all of you (three)...-Mom
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