Something I am or Something I do???

I read a beautiful article about this earlier this morning and it really has got me thinking. Is being a wife and a mother some I am or something I do? Or does it even matter?

I am a wife. I became one the day I said I do. I am a mother. I became one the day my first child was conceived. But that really says very little about me. With that way of thinking I could be a wife and never speak a word to my husband. I could be a mother and never spend a day of their life with my child. In thinking that being a wife and mother is something that I actually do or don't do brings with it serious and even grave implications. 

Why serious? Why grave? Because if it is about something I am doing, that means it is either something I am doing well or something I am doing poorly.  My husband is a contractor. But he is either a poor contractor or a skilled contractor. He is not admired and appreciated simply for being a contractor but for the diligence, skill and hard work that he puts into his work. He is a master. Not because he has his contractor's licence, but because he has learned, practiced, developed and used his skills in a masterful way.

I wrote recently about what the heart of a mother needs to be, but the most noble and devoted heart is no good if it is not put into action. Here is where I constantly fall. I'm ever drawn to the path of "convenience".  Cooking, cleaning, resting, playing, decorating, dreaming, learning, exploring. They are all more easily done on my own. How often have I snapped at my girls for interrupting while I'm blogging to you all about loving your children?  My desire to be a godly wife and mother is often drowned out by my selfish desires, or even more often, my lazy desires.

There is a reason the Bible instructs us as wives to be "busy at home". We are not talking about being stressed, overwhelmed chicken's with our heads cut off. We are talking about wisdom, diligence and self-control. My most stressed moments come directly from my own laziness. My most peaceful and beautiful days come from being faithful to the things the Lord has called me to.

James 4:14~"What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

We only have one shot at this. One chance to do things right. Not for our own merit or reputation, but for the Lord's. Today I cannot go to the amusement park with my friends because I have a nursing baby. I can't go on a canoe trip for the weekend because I have small children who would fry in the sun. I can't go out to eat whenever I want to because we have six mouths to feed every day. But I also will not have small children forever. They will grow. All of them. Much sooner than I realize, I will not have a baby of my own. I won't have little girls to crawl onto my lap. Little children to ask me questions about every area of life. Will I have done my job well?  Am I being faithful with what the Lord has blessed me with? Am I the wife and mother that the Lord wants me to be. When I stand before Him, will I have run my race well? I decide that today. And tomorrow. And the next day. By God's grace and only by that, will I strive and fail and strive and fail and continue striving to truly be and do all that will bring Him glory! Come strive with me!