In the book
, Making Peace with Motherhood...and Creating a Better You, by Heidi Bratton, a sentence in the intro has stuck with me for quite some time. It says, "If God has given you a child, entrusted you with the care of one of his precious lambs, then motherhood is a part of living up to your full potential as a woman" (p. xi).
My favorite part is remembering that my children are God's "precious lambs". Whenever I'm struggling through the difficult, and often mundane, tasks of motherhood, or when I'm frustrated by my children, I remember to look at them as the pure, precious children they are in God's eyes. Another quote from the same book along this line: "God chose me to mother these specific children. He chose me to tend to them, to water them, to feed them, and in doing so to glorify God" (p. 18). This thought brings so much hope and peace to my heart, when at times it is easy to feel like a failure.
It's also interesting to think about motherhood as living up to a woman's full potential, especially in a society that puts so much weight on careers, individual goals, money, and "gender equality". Motherhood in today's culture is anything but living to one's full potential, and is often postponed or even avoided for the "benefit" of the woman. I enjoy my job as a nurse, and there is no doubt that I have learned so much about the human experience through working with hundreds of patients in a hospital the past six years. However, nothing has changed my heart and my worldview more than becoming a mother. Maybe this is scary for some; they don't want to enter a land of unknown and are happy to live in the comfort of what they know. However, there is no way I would ever begin to realize my capabilities before becoming a mother. Without motherhood being a part of who I am, I realize it would be impossible for me to live up to, or even fathom, what my full potential is. I am so thankful that God has chosen me to shepherd my little lambs.
