Dana Bailey: Just a Mom

I wrote this for The Confident Mom blog in February. I have another post coming to her site next week.

As I stood by my husbands’ side, I could feel many eyes on me. I tried hard to only glance in their direction and not make complete eye contact. I felt very inferior and unimportant. As long as no one talks to me, I will be just fine.

I was standing among women with perfect manicures and hair styles. Their clothes were stylish and classy. And then there was me.

My husband had brought me with him to a business dinner. All real estate agents in his office were meeting for dinner with their spouses. I only knew one other couple but they were busy, so I stood by Scott, happy to not speak to anyone.

One woman did speak to me, “Dana, what do you do?” I hate questions like that. I answered as confidently as I could, “I stay home with our kids.”

“Oh, that is great! Do you work?”she asked. Really? Do I work?

“No, I’m just a mom” I answered.

On the way home I began thinking; why did I feel that what I was doing was so unimportant? Why did I let this professional woman make me want to curl up in the corner because I’m just a mom?

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” Proverbs 127:1

Maria Magdelena Keverich

Mothers are much like the builders of great structures. Often we only know of the structures built and not of the ones who design it and worked to build it. Chances are, you do not know about Maria Magdalena Keverich, mother of Ludwig van Beethoven. And I doubt you have heard of Ida Stover, mother of Dwight D. Eisenhower. We know of their sons and the great impact they made on our world, but rarely do we talk about the impact their mothers made on them. I often wonder what kind of mother did Daniel (Daniel 1:8-20) have. She raised a son who stood boldly for what he believed was right in spite of possible consequences.

As a mom, I must remember who the architect is and who the builder is. God is the ultimate architect. He has already designed your child with gifts and talents that are meant to be used for His glory. He wants to use me to accomplish that purpose; he has made me the builder. We will not know the end result of our labors until we get to Heaven and meet those who our children have impacted and influenced. How exciting is it to know that God has a special purpose for our children and he wants to use us to accomplish that purpose!

As the builder I must keep my focus on the architect (God), not on what I’m building (my children) or I will lose focus and get discouraged. I do this by studying His plans (Bible) and staying in conversation with my architect on a regular basis. By keeping my heart and mind focused on God, he will guide me and equip me with all I need to raise my children to be the ones he can use for his great purpose. It is not my plan for my children that will succeed, but the plans of God.

My goal as a mom is not to build up godly children, but to be godly myself so that God can use me to build up a heritage of children who will worship Him and love them with all their heart, soul, strength & mind.

For that brief moment at dinner with my husband (that felt like forever) I had lost sight of the amazing ministry that God has called me to. He has called me to be a mom. He has entrusted in my care his children to be raised and trained according to his Word. He has given me the opportunity to be part of a greater purpose as I walk with my children every day, teaching them by my example. God wants to use me to build a lasting legacy through my children!

You are not just a mom! You are a builder in the Kingdom of God, training up his children to become mighty men & women for His glory! Karol Ladd of Positive Life Principles calls us Molders of Mankind (MoM). I love that!