Olympic hero, Missionary…or Mommy?

Here is a story of 3 women.

Woman number 1 is an olympic athlete.  She loves to skate and has trained for it from her earliest remembrances.  Hour after hour, day after day she has put her effort into this goal of excellence.  But, it has cost her.  She has had several injuries, 3 surgeries and will have scars that will always remind her of the cost.  But, she is a hero.  She gets back up each time.  For this woman is not a quitter.  After her surgeries, at the first moment she is able, she is back up on that ice.  “What a dedicated woman!”  Many will marvel in respect as they watch her trials and triumphs.

Woman number 2 is a missionary.  Her name?  Amy Carmichael.  She suffered from health issues that put her to bed for weeks on end.  But, this did not stop her from her pursuit of following God’s call for her life.  She served in India and a quote she gave was “”Missionary life is simply a chance to die.”  She was in this land for 55 years without furlough. Her ministry would serve at least 1,000 children.  Many were impacted by her sacrifice.

Before I introduce woman number 3, let me ask you…

How many people would tell the olympic hero to give up her dream because it was too hard? When she had injuries and sacrifices would she not have been encouraged to “get back out there?”

And how many people would have told Amy Carmichael that what she was doing was not conventional.  In fact, she was crazy and had her “hands too full”?

Enter Woman #3.  This woman is a modern day mother, who has given her life to the Lord Jesus Christ.  She sees children as a precious gift from God.  She gives of her life for these little ones. She sees each day as a calling to labor for their hearts and eternal souls. Sometimes late in the evening she is found scrubbing toilets.  She is up nursing sick ones in the night.  She is taking moments through the day to answer the hundredth “Mommy” that is echoing through the house. Stopping to kiss a scraped knee, or fix the dolly’s hair is all part of her important work. Each pregnancy as she bears a new life, she finds herself a little more strained physically and as she ages it gets harder and harder.  But, she presses on with her eyes upon the Lord.  Maybe she even says “Motherhood life is simply a chance to die.” And she is called to die daily, to her selfish ambitions, to her body being her own.

Now tell me, how many will say to this woman…”you have your hands full!”  “This is so hard for you, we think it’s wisest to stop having babies.”

Why is it that the olympic hero is respected and supported for “getting back up” after she has fallen?  Why is the missionary commended for her daily sacrifices. Why are mothers are mothers absented from these same encouraging sentiments and thought crazy for their choices?

What is more important than giving of yourself for precious, eternal little souls? Preparing the next generation to follow the Lord?

So today…if you are Woman #3 may I encourage you and thank you for your service.  As Kelly over at Generation Cedar quoted a few days ago..

“Our bodies are tools, not treasures.  You should not spend your days trying to preserve your body in its eighteen-year-old form. Let it be used.  By the time you die, you want to have a very dinged and dinted body.  Motherhood uses your body in the way that God designed it to be used.  Those are the right kind of damages…We are not to treat our bodies like museum pieces. They were not given to us to preserve, they were given to us to use.  So use it cheerfully, and maintain it cheerfully.  You want to fix your body up in order to be able to use it some more.We should not be trying to fix it up to put it back on the shelf out of harm’s way or to try to make ourselves look like nothing ever happened.  Your body is a tool.  Use it.”  -Rachel Jankovic, Loving the Little Years

May you be blessed today, dear mothers as you follow your calling!

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