Just and Only

“I’m just a mum.”

“I only have (insert #) children.”

You just read two of the biggest lies ever told!  I believe that those two four letter words are some of Satan’s most powerful tools.

I don’t know how many times I’ve been questioned on what I do and when I respond that I am a stay at home mum I get ‘the Look’.  People almost seem to pity me.  How could I be fulfilled or satisfied if all I do is stay home with my children?

Sons are an heritage from the Lord,
children are a reward from Him.

God tells me that children are a special gift: from Him to me.  He designed each one specifically to be nurtured by me.

Psalm 139:13
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

God created each of my children to be exactly the children I needed and me to be exactly the mother they needed.  When someone diminishes me by saying that I am ‘just’ a mum, they are really saying that what God did was without value.  No where in Scripture does it read that to be a woman I need a university degree or prestigious job.  

But women will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Not only does God have a plan for any children He gives me, but He also has a plan for me through them.

I have five children.  It did not start that way.  When I had ‘only’ one child and with one on the way, another mother made a comment to me (she had three children).  She told me that I would know more about being a mother when I had a few more children.  Those were not her exact words but her message was clear.  Because my quiver was not as big as hers I was not as much a mother as she was.

Psalm 127:5
Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them [children].

When I looked up the word full, the keywords that defined it were complete, entire and abundant.  No where was there a numerical value on full.

Psalm 23:5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

No one asks how many cups the Psalmist had.  The important message is that the Lord blessed him so that his cup overflowed.  Is it not the same with our children?  I could have one child and have an empty cup because of the value and investment I make with that child.  I could have 10 children and be in the same situation.

We have five children because after the last three, my health continued to deteriorate to the point where I was being hospitalized and the doctor warned that my husband could become a single parent.  At that point, my husband’s quiver was full.  God had given us a family and now was our time to love them for Him.

Had that happened after one child, our responsibility would be exactly the same.  Had God allowed us to have 20 children, our responsibility would be exactly the same.  God does not compare our quivers to the quivers of others.  God does not compare our parenting to the parenting of others.  God wants each one of us to give our best to Him regardless of the circumstances.

Philippians 4:11-12
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

Whatever the Lord has provided in your life, it is what He designed specifically for you.  Accept it, cherish it, praise Him for it.