I read a children’s story called “The Knights of the Silver Shield.” I was knee deep in raising my own children and it spoke volumes to me. Long story short; the silver shield given to each knight was cloudy at the beginning. As the knight would fight battles and his bravery increased, the shield would get more and more shiny. Only the bravest knights ever achieved a star in the center. The shield was magical and couldn’t be lied to or fooled. Of all the knights in the story, only the commander had a silver star on his shield. That’s how rare they were.
Sir Roland was a young knight, and he longed to go to battle. Instead, he was given the task of guarding the door while the other knights fought. He was so disappointed. As he guarded the door, he had many temptations to leave. One old lady came and told him the troops were losing and needed his help. He said he couldn’t leave. She said, “It must be nice to stay at home while others fight.”
In his humiliation, he almost left but remembered his commander’s orders. He had other temptations to abandon his post, but resisted them all to do what felt so small in comparison to others.
When the troops returned, Sir Roland greeted them. The men said, “The shield, the shield, Sir Roland’s shield!” In the center was the golden star. Sir Roland had fought the hardest battle and won. He resisted the call to glory and stood firm at his post.
When I read it, I thought to myself, “That’s what I’m doing as I stay here and take care of my babies and shape their souls for the kingdom of God.”
“When I was thirty years old, I had a great awakening in my life from the Lord and felt as if I could change the world if He gave me a platform to do it.”
When I was thirty years old, I had a great awakening in my life from the Lord and felt as if I could change the world if He gave me a platform to do it.
Little did I know, He gave me the greatest platform on the planet; motherhood.
“Instead of God enlarging my territory, He seemed to make it much smaller and focused.”
Instead of God enlarging my territory, He seemed to make it much smaller and focused. He let me know everything was a lesser priority than the souls He gave me to shape. He had me truly repent of doing so much counseling and ministry that my children were suffering from my lack of attention to them (good stuff but not what I was called to in that season).
Before all of the working women check out, I have worked full-time outside my home now for over a decade now, but home and family are still my number one priority. This is not a formula that others have to follow. God is personal with each of us and our main concern should be to hear His voice and do what He says to us individually.
“Throughout my children’s younger years, I had many jobs to help make ends meet, but my home and family were my career. “
Throughout my children’s younger years, I had many jobs to help make ends meet, but my home and family were my career.
I worked as a potter, in a veterinary hospital (God has a sense of humor), taught exercise, and did hair in my kitchen. I refused to be away from home any more than I had to. God seldom makes life easy, but He will always give us a way to be what He has called us to be.
When God created the first woman from Adam’s rib, He gave us a distinct place in the world that no one else can fill. He made us helpers. Our men, our children, and this fallen world desperately need our help.
“He made us helpers. Our men, our children, and this fallen world desperately need our help.”
Ladies, helper is not an inferior name for us at all. Listen to who else is called the Helper.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
John 14:26
God means for us to be His presence and help in the lives of our children. We are truly like God to them.
I began to realize this truth as a young mom and decided I better get to know God if I was going to help my children get to know Him. Christianity is caught way more than it is taught.
“I had to get off my phone and fully and joyfully be present with my children.”
I had to get off my phone and fully and joyfully be present with my children. I needed to embrace potty training, washing clothes, and preparing meals.
Oswald Chambers said it best:
“The great hindrance in spiritual life is that we will look for big things to do. “Jesus…took a towel,…and began to wash the disciples’ feet.” There are times when there is no illumination and no thrill, but just the daily round, the common task. Routine is God’s way of saving us between our times of inspiration. Do not expect God always to give you His thrilling minutes, but learn to live in the domain of drudgery by the power of God.” (My Utmost for His Highest)
“I wanted to learn how to do everything for the glory of God and operate by His power.”
I wanted to learn how to do everything for the glory of God and operate by His power. That meant stopping what I was doing to go outside and look at a sunset, teaching His Word to my children, and laughing with them. It means living in the moment. You cannot get them back. I had to resist the temptation to fulfill my own needs and pour my life into my family. Remember, we are helpers. We are built for this if we will embrace it.
“Home became a hub of life for my family.”
Home became a hub of life for my family. I rarely left, but God faithfully brought people to us. Focusing on my children and husband didn’t mean God didn’t use my life to help other women. They simply ceased to be my main concern. We women are obsessed with ourselves and how we appear to other women (or was that just me?).
Titus 2 tells us exactly what God wants a woman to be; both older and younger women.
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
Titus 2:3-5
Does God know the world we live in today? Does He not realize that women can do anything and everything a man can do? And some would argue we can do most things even better. We bring heart into what we do.
As Robin Williams famously said, “If women ran the world we wouldn’t have wars, just intense negotiations every 28 days.”
Let me ask a question? Can a man do everything a woman can do? No, they cannot. They cannot grow a human in a womb and then produce life-giving milk in their breasts. To think the mind of God thought up nursing. In His wisdom, He made it so a baby needs their mother almost every hour from the time it makes an appearance into the world. He made it so they nurse skin to skin and see our faces, hear our voice, and listen to the rhythm of our breath. They bind our feet to our homes and God meant for it to be that way.
“If we only knew the power of shaping souls for the Kingdom of God, every woman listening right now would be on their faces every morning before the God of heaven.”
If we only knew the power of shaping souls for the Kingdom of God, every woman reading right now would be on their faces every morning before the God of heaven. We would beg God to make us worthy of our high calling. We would weigh every word that comes from our mouths and every action knowing little eyes are looking at us. Little hearts that are easily crushed by our words would be handled with care. We would care about the atmosphere in our homes more than wishing we had a new couch. Atmosphere is the intangible thing that everyone feels, even an infant.
“What we do or don’t do will shape the world for generations.”
What we do or don’t do will shape the world for generations. Our character, left unshaped by the God who is willing to change us, will fill our children with our poison. There will be no excuse good enough on judgement day when we see the truth of scripture.
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
2 Peter 1:3
Read it slowly. We have everything we need through God’s divine power. However, we will never change into His image without striving with all our might to know Him! He would be a mother through us and draw our little ones to Himself. No one on the planet is more influential than a woman. No wonder our role is under attack.
I was raised to be independent. My mother was mortified that I stayed home with my children and struggled horribly to make ends meet. She wanted me to be ready if my husband ever had an affair or couldn’t give me the home and furniture I deserved to impress people I didn’t even like.
She was the product of a home where she never felt secure. The sins of her parents affected her, and threatened to strangle the life out of me. I carried her same fears inside even if I didn’t vocalize them.
I had to tell her that I was going to stand firm at my post and if my husband couldn’t take care of me, that was God’s problem, not mine (I was hoping I was right).
Well, God not only took care of us, He let me shape three souls that are changing His world. I lived a very hidden life with my family and just like a seed planted takes many years to bear fruit, our lives are the same. God was not in a hurry for me to do ministry, teach, write blogs, or do podcasts. He wanted me to do the greatest work in the world; lay my life down for the next generation.
