Created

Mothers in the Middle is designed to support working and stay-at-home moms who are struggling to combine multiple identities. This journey is a difficult one, made even more difficult if we don't identify a compass. The compass that guides us is the truth that comes from our Creator manifested in the person of Jesus Christ.

Here's why this point is foundational. Relying on the truth of the Creator establishes that we are created beings. Our births, lives, and deaths are not random. Our gender was not random. Our marriage was not random. Our kids were not random. The Scripture makes it clear that God made us with a purpose.

Let's start with gender. Genesis 1:27 explains, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

As I carried, labored, and mothered my kids, I often felt resentful of my husband and of my God. "Why did I have to be born a woman?" I asked. I puked nearly every day of my first pregnancy. My labor with this child lasted over 24 hours. Then I abandoned nearly all of my professional ambitions to nurse and care for her. My husband was extremely supported. He helped out in almost every way. But I watched him leave for work every morning and resented that he hadn't given up his career. He didn't spent all day, every day with his children. "Why?" I asked again, "Why was I born a woman?"

This is the sort of self-pity that makes us forget what we know is true. We know that mothers have a special role in the lives of their children. God created you female on purpose. You have special ways of interacting with your kids that are unique to you. God wanted you to be the mother in their lives. I think there is little doubt that raising young children can be especially grueling for mothers. There is probably little doubt that most families could use a little more shared responsibility between mothers and fathers. But none of this negates the fact that God created you. He has a special role for you. Part of that role includes whether or not only whether he made you a mother or a father, but what kind of mother and father you are. Stay tuned for more on that point.