Mother's Day is coming up this weekend.  It is traditionally a time to show our Moms how much we appreciate them.    Stores, restaurants, and florists all want the families of America to lavish lots and lots of goodies on the well-deserving Mothers of America.  Mothers should be appreciated:  they are self-sacrificing; hard-working; tireless; and loving.  They work 7 days a week, often putting in 16 or more hours a day, and rarely get a vacation or any kind of renumeration for all their work.  So this continues year after year after year.  

Now I am all for Mother's Day (as a daughter and as a mother).  I think it is important to express my thankfulness and love to my mother for all she has done for me, and my heart overflows when my children show me even the smallest consideration .(Kids, I can't wait to share the day with you, tell you I love you , and that I would do it all over again).  

But what disturbs me is that the rest of the 364 days of the year, there is very little appreciation of the roll that mothers take in the lives of their children in our society.  Mothers are NOT appreciated or even esteemed.  It is a roll that is not only looked down on as menial, but one that should be escaped from as soon as the woman can put her child in daycare.  When I grew up, most mothers were still at home during the day:  Mothers took care of you when you were sick; they made home-cooked meals; they helped you with homework and projects; read to you each night and tucked you into bed.   But with the feminist movement in the 60s and 70s, women were encouraged to pursure their own dreams; their own careers; to limit the number of children; to help earn more money so the family could have a bigger house and more things to put in that bigger house.  As I look around my own neighborhood, I see how effective that mentality is:  There are very few homes during the day with any occupants in them.  Daycares have sprung up everywhere, and many have waiting lists.  As summer approaches, my mailbox has "Summer Camp" brochures that offer to babysit and educate my kids once school is out.  Even filling out income tax forms this Spring, there are lines to put employer, employer address, and employer phone number for BOTH the husband and the wife.  When you introduce yourself to someone, almost the first question you hear is "What do you do?"  When I answer that I am a wife and mother, almost invariably I will hear things like "I don't know how you can do that."  Or, "I would go crazy at home with 2 kids, let alone 7."  The impression that others give me is that they would NEVER allow themselves to be in anything close to my situation.  

To all you ladies reading this, I just want to say -- being a Mother IS a high-calling!!  And being a stay-at-home mom requires alot more than I ever thought possible.  It requires self-descipline, flexibility, patience, diligence, frugality, hard work, and long hours.  And yes, you will probably be underappreciated by your family and most definitely thought less of by today's society; but as you live out your womanhood and motherhood before the Lord, rest assured that HE takes notice and will strengthen you and equip you for every challenge.  GREAT is HIS faithfulness!

So, ladies, get ready for flowers, gifts, dinner out with your hubby and children, etc. Enjoy your day!  You deserve it and much more.