Always Preparing, Always Content

I would really like to be a wife, mother, and homemaker. In this season of my life, I have very little time for homemaking (cooking, cleaning, organizing house, etc.). I want my desire to grow for the role of a wife and mother. However, I do not want it to be fueled by a discontentment in my current season whatsoever, because I know that same discontentment will be waiting for me again right after the thrill of being a new wife or mother wears off and the mundane and seemingly insignificant tasks of those roles take over. So really, although I have almost naught time for cooking, cleaning, and being at home right now (and it aches my heart often, especially to be so removed from time with my family), there are so many ways that this season is preparing me for the next - casting cares on God, denying and dying to myself to serve others, finding my satisfaction in God alone, learning to manage time, etc..

Any season I ever am in has the same goal of preparation, not a preparation for the next season to come in my life, but for when my earthly life is done and I meet my Savior face to face. So, even though I really have a longing to build into my own family someday - supporting and encouraging my husband and nurturing the next generation in the fear of the Lord and peace of the gospel - the goal of all of that is to glorify Christ and enjoy Him forever. And guess what? I can do that right now! And I can build into the family of Christ, support and encourage others, and nurture the next generation in the fear of the Lord and peace of the gospel RIGHT NOW. I have the same goals whatever season of life I am in, even if my roles take on different shapes and sizes.

This entry is blatantly shocking and an embarrassing admission for a woman in today's world. It somehow seems so vulnerable. But it is good, and I must not be ashamed of what God has proclaimed good. I must embrace and proclaim whatever God has chosen to use to exalt Himself, including a radical and humbling view of womanhood in today's culture.

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)

photo: Burano, Italy 2007