One of the most common questions we are asked is, "What do you do for a living?" And, wow, people have some awesome jobs, don't they?
For most of my life when someone asked me what I did, I was sort of at a loss. I ironed clothes, piles and piles of clothes! And, I did lots of laundry, scrubbed dishes and floors and the dirt off small children! I cooked and baked and did lots of driving to the grocery, to the schools, to the doctors and dentists. I chased dogs and cats and guinea pigs, pet rats and fast children and rarely caught any of them! I broke up fights and bandaged cuts and scrapes and reminded the small collective (yes, even the four footed ones) that Jesus was watching and He sure wasn't happy with petty behaviors or biting and scratching and spitting!
And I did most of all these things, these most mighty and important things feeling as if they weren't mighty or important at all. I was embarrassed that even though I had a college education, I was doing nothing with it. I was making no money and contributing nothing to pay bills. There were days I felt like a loser, standing there mute as one more person asked me what I did for a living! I was just a mommy.
It's only in looking back that I see that the work I did was good and profitable work. Okay, sure, maybe I didn't cure a disease or paint some famous painting or make a billion dollars but I did the job that God laid out for me. It was an important job.
Raising children is the greatest and hardest work in the universe. We get one shot, no do overs and if we screw it up, man, what a mess we create for future generations. Us stay at home mommies and daddies may not be raising portfolios but we are indeed affecting the future uplift or downfall of this world. Those kids of ours are diamonds in the rough and all our polishing IS worthwhile.
So, if you stay home with your children and feel like you are doing nothing important, understand your true worth! Do not let anyone make you feel as if you are a loser! And the next time someone asks you what you do for a living, tell them the truth: "I am blessed beyond measure! I work with one of a kind, rare and precious diamonds and there isn't a job anywhere better than mine! And, by the way, I'm filthy rich!"
Lord, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to raise children. Thank you for the gift of those three diamonds! Loving and raising them truly was the best and most rewarding job in the universe! Thank you for providing a good helper in my husband and thank you for holding our hands as we cut and polished these precious gems. I give you all the glory for all, Father. Amen.
