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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/27/2008 1:27:07 PM
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RamiRedeemed
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Touche! I'm not confused about whether my calling, or 'a' calling is to be a mother. I'm confused about a lot of things, this doesn't happen to be one of them.
I'm not going to even getting itno the question about what is greater as I'm not trying to offend anyone.
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/27/2008 1:29:02 PM
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manda59
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quote:
ORIGINAL: RamiRedeemed
I'm not going to even getting itno the question about what is greater as I'm not trying to offend anyone.
Oh go on, it would be good to chat about it. You don't need to assume people will get offended. And after all, being offended is a choice, and plenty of us here are quite happy to choose not to be offended.
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"Manda is right"
mvic, January 2009
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/27/2008 1:35:42 PM
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RamiRedeemed
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Okey dokey. By 'greater' I mean something that will affect people beyond those in my own household. Like I said previously, being a mother is just a part of life, like being a wife and the things that go along with that. I wouldn't say that changing diapers is my calling, or that paying bills was my calling so I won't say that being a mother is either. I do believe that it's my JOB to teach my daughter, to raise her to know God, etc etc but it's just that, part of the job.
_____________________________
Some people talk because they have something to say.
Others talk because they have to say something.
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ramireconciled.blogspot.com
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/27/2008 1:50:52 PM
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peculiar_lady2
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quote:
IMO, once a woman has a child in her care, her "calling" to motherhood is unimportant . The raising the child trumps what others would term as "calling," at least for a season. A woman has to deal with the facts of her life and learn to be content even if she doesn't feel "called" to be a mother the same way an infertile women who feels "called" to motherhood has to deal.
I completely agree!!!
quote:
ORIGINAL: RamiRedeemed
Okey dokey. By 'greater' I mean something that will affect people beyond those in my own household. Like I said previously, being a mother is just a part of life, like being a wife and the things that go along with that. I wouldn't say that changing diapers is my calling, or that paying bills was my calling so I won't say that being a mother is either. I do believe that it's my JOB to teach my daughter, to raise her to know God, etc etc but it's just that, part of the job.
I can see what you mean....you just consider this a part of life, and the things you have to do to get down this path are what you consider your parenting "style" to be.
I do not feel that way about my own parenting. I feel that for me it IS a calling...and I find it easier to get through the hum drum days, and screeching, whiny days when I do consider it my calling. I also found that with me when I didn't consider it a calling is when my house is in chaos....when I put into action the things that I would for any other calling though is when I find that my house is going good. It may not be the cleanest or the most organized (after all I do have five kids!!!), but the household itself is not in chaos. My purpose is to make my "stay at home" status be the best it can be...make my home and my kids and my husband's lives the best they can be. That is my purpose every day. For me I have found that without a purpose I don't do anything, nothing gets accomplished, and life just rolls right past me. I don't want that...I want to actually LIVE life to the fullest.
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/27/2008 1:58:48 PM
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manda59
Posts: 6162
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From: Hampshire, UK
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quote:
ORIGINAL: RamiRedeemed
Okey dokey. By 'greater' I mean something that will affect people beyond those in my own household. Like I said previously, being a mother is just a part of life, like being a wife and the things that go along with that. I wouldn't say that changing diapers is my calling, or that paying bills was my calling so I won't say that being a mother is either. I do believe that it's my JOB to teach my daughter, to raise her to know God, etc etc but it's just that, part of the job.
My two were only in nappies (your diapers) for 2 years btw, and being a mum involves much more than the first two (or however many) years!
Since becoming a mum, I have got involved in death row ministry, worked with the homeless, trained/qualified as a counsellor, worked as a driver for a homeless young people's charity, worked as a driver for a Food Bank charity (distributing it to the needy in our area) ... and raised my children (now 19 and 15). By far the greatest number of people affected by what I have done, reached with the Gospel, changed eternally even, has been through the raising of my children and what they have gone on to do.
Just thought I'd throw that in. 
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"Manda is right"
mvic, January 2009
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/27/2008 2:00:19 PM
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Mrs.X
Posts: 2947
Joined: 7/7/2005
From: Newberg, OR
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Mrs.Wifey
I don't know, there are certainly mothers out there whose only real desire has ever been to be a mother. My mom is a gifted mother, she is furthering the Kingdom of God by raising up children who are going out and doing God's work. Likewise, now that my siblings and I are growing and leaving the hosue she is shifting that mothering to the pregnancy care center where she guides young women and teaches them how to parent their own children.
I think that is a perfect example of how mothering can prepare us for our calling.
Another example, and I hope Maggie doesn't mind that I use her an example. She said when he kids are grown, that maybe she wants to get into something like being a doula or maybe a midwife.
Or, maybe someone who never thought they'd want to volunteer in Sunday school has children and then realizes they would do well in that area.
I don't think mothering is a calling itself, but I think it can prepare us for it.
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From Sweet Grass to the Packin' House
A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. -Proverbs 15:1
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/27/2008 2:57:53 PM
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Mrs.Wifey
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I think we also have to remember that we don't always just have one calling for our entire life, we can have a calling for a specific season as well. In this season of my life, my calling is definitely to focus on my daughter and my husband. Teaching and equipping my daughter(and any future children) with the good news of Christ, so that she(they) might go forward and teach people about Jesus. In 10 years when she is in school, my calling might be to minister to hurting moms who have premature babies in the NICU, or it could be to do Hospice care and to minister to the families of people who are dying.
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/27/2008 4:26:33 PM
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myka
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I think that wherever we are in our life, we are to be Christ in those circumstances. As parents, we have a specific responsibility from God to shepherd our children in the ways of God. That responsibility is our foremost one because God has seen fit to bless us with it; others have different responsibilities that God has blessed them with. I believe that I can delegate part of that responsibility to my dh or to others who also look out for my children under my dh and my direction. I don't believe that the role of parent is the only one that I am to have, and I can have multiple obligations, but the responsibility for my family is one of the top ones -- it is the same for my dh also.
I think that sometimes especially young mothers have this tendency to see their life circumstances as doing nothing for God. I also think that we have this separation of the various areas of our lives as 'things for God' and 'things not for God'. I think that regardless of our life circumstances, everything that we do should be 'for God' whether it is changing diapers (I'm sure that Jesus was very glad that Mary changed his diaper) or prayer or whatever.
I don't know that I would describe it as a 'calling' -- I know that in certain places it is called a 'vocation'--which is more a station in life in those particular churches.
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/27/2008 4:53:13 PM
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Sideways
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quote:
ORIGINAL: ChelseaRae
I quit school as soon as we were engaged, not everyone I know supported this but it was the best decision I ever made and I know for a fact that our marriage has been blessed because of it.
How long were you engaged, Chelsea? I ... don't wish to sound rude, but my curiosity is coming out. How did you use your time when you were engaged? Since you already had 3 years of nursing school under your belt at the time of your engagement, were you ever tempted to finish out that last year just to have your nursing license as a back up? (Not saying you would divorce, but if your husband died.)
If I'm getting to nosy please feel free to tell me to point my nose in the opposite direction!
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/27/2008 8:22:44 PM
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pumpkin
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my simple answer is no, I do not believe it is a calling to be a mother.
To expand on that...
I believe it is a very great and admirable thing. I believe that it is extremely important. However I don't believe it is a calling to be a mother any more than it is a calling to be a wife, husband, father, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, friend, etc.
I also don't believe that people are generally called to their profession, although there are obvious exceptions to this, such as pastors and missionaries.
I have always had a longing, deep within, to be a mother. Will God bless me with children? That remains to be seen. What if he never does? I would then have the question of, "I have been called to be a mother, and yet God hasn't given me the opportunity to become a mother. How can this be?"
Again, I do believe that it is a very great and noble and very important thing to be a mother. I simply don't view it as a calling.
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/27/2008 9:16:30 PM
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ChelseaRae
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Ruth no worries, I don't mind talking about it! I had to do a year of upgrading before I could start nursing school so when we got engaged I would have had two full years after we got married not one. We started dating in June of 2006, we were engaged in October, and we were married in August of 2007. We have firm beliefs about being open to life (and these are our beliefs, I'm not trying to say anyone else should have the same ones) right from the beginning of marriage and if I was going to finish school we wouldn't have gotten married until I was finished; we wanted to start off our marriage giving God 100% control of every aspect of it, including having children. Getting married and then postponing starting our family, even with NFP was not an option for us.
I never wanted to be a nurse, I knew that right from the beginning. I am very thankful for the knowledge I acquired during those years but going to school was really a time filler until God allowed me to get married and start a family. I have enough education that should something happen to Nathaniel it wouldn't take much for me to get a job as an LPN which is what I would have switched to anyway, I went into nursing to care for people but found nurses don't have time to do much caring, they are kept very busy with meds and assessments (at least where I was working) and the care was left for LPNs and care aids. But I digress... it honestly never dawned on me to finish school, I have never wanted anything more than to be a mom and I find it incredibly fulfilling.
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/28/2008 10:32:06 AM
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Mrs.Wifey
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quote:
I also don't believe that people are generally called to their profession, although there are obvious exceptions to this, such as pastors and missionaries.
Then what exactly is a calling? Pastors and missionaries aren't the only people in ministry, so who else counts?
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/28/2008 2:20:55 PM
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HisCovenant
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I can't answer for Pumpkin, but the way I see it is that I am called to use my spiritual gift (Exhortation and Discernment or Prophecy for me, depending on your interpretation of whether Prophecy is still in existance as a gift- but I digress ) I am called to be Christlike. I use that in my roles in life(including professions) : Daughter, Student, Wife, Writer, Decorator, SAHW, Church Revitalization Admin, etc... If I was a Prophet by profession, you would call that my "calling" and profession would be the same. Actually, missions isn't a calling in my book because missions isn't a spiritual gift... it's a profession that uses other spiritual gifts.
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/28/2008 2:23:16 PM
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Mrs.Wifey
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Oh the things that make my head spin... I would say that a "calling" is a place to use your spiritual gifts in a specific ministry.
Perhaps this is a case of "Potato-Potato"
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/28/2008 2:45:44 PM
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purejoy
Posts: 857
Joined: 4/15/2005
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quote:
ORIGINAL: myka
I think that wherever we are in our life, we are to be Christ in those circumstances. As parents, we have a specific responsibility from God to shepherd our children in the ways of God. That responsibility is our foremost one because God has seen fit to bless us with it; others have different responsibilities that God has blessed them with. I believe that I can delegate part of that responsibility to my dh or to others who also look out for my children under my dh and my direction. I don't believe that the role of parent is the only one that I am to have, and I can have multiple obligations, but the responsibility for my family is one of the top ones -- it is the same for my dh also.
I think that sometimes especially young mothers have this tendency to see their life circumstances as doing nothing for God. I also think that we have this separation of the various areas of our lives as 'things for God' and 'things not for God'. I think that regardless of our life circumstances, everything that we do should be 'for God' whether it is changing diapers (I'm sure that Jesus was very glad that Mary changed his diaper) or prayer or whatever.
I don't know that I would describe it as a 'calling' -- I know that in certain places it is called a 'vocation'--which is more a station in life in those particular churches.
I so agree with you, myka! Especially the bolded parts. I think often as Christians we are quick to separate our lives into "God stuff" and "regular stuff." Biblically, I don't see this distinction.
quote:
ORIGINAL: Mrs.Wifey
quote:
I also don't believe that people are generally called to their profession, although there are obvious exceptions to this, such as pastors and missionaries.
Then what exactly is a calling? Pastors and missionaries aren't the only people in ministry, so who else counts?
I would be curious, too. For me, I absolutely am called to be a nurse. That doesn't mean I will always work as a nurse, but for this time in my life, even as a new mother, I have no doubt that is also where God is calling me to be. Maybe it is just a definition/semantics issue?
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/28/2008 4:05:59 PM
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spitzu
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quote:
ORIGINAL: purejoy
I think often as Christians we are quick to separate our lives into "God stuff" and "regular stuff." Biblically, I don't see this distinction.
Word.
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/28/2008 4:11:06 PM
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clag4christ
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quote:
ORIGINAL: zoebob
I think I see what you are getting at. You want to know if it is perfectly fine and and a wise use of your time to "just" be a mom. IOW: is dedicating a period of your life to raising your kids a worthwhile thing in God's view?
Yes. I plan for and pray for completely fulfilling my duty as far as my calling to be a mother, from the Lord.
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<-----Jael as Tinkerbell - Halloween 2008
If you don't want people to insult your intelligence; don't make it so obvious that you have none.
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RE: Is it a spiritual "calling" to be a mother? - 10/28/2008 4:13:16 PM
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clag4christ
Posts: 2631
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quote:
I so agree with you, myka! Especially the bolded parts. I think often as Christians we are quick to separate our lives into "God stuff" and "regular stuff." Biblically, I don't see this distinction.
Indeed. We as Christians should not live a 'sychophrenic' life. We are called by the Lord from His Word to do all things to His glory. There's to be no compartamentalism when it comes to our lives.
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<-----Jael as Tinkerbell - Halloween 2008
If you don't want people to insult your intelligence; don't make it so obvious that you have none.
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