From "Mrs. Wilkes" to "Mommy"

June 3rd 2011, I closed the door on my sweet little classroom for the last time....It was an odd feeling knowing that I would not be coming back the following August, that I would no longer hear 12 little voices calling "Mrs. Wilkes, I need help". June 3rd, 2011 was my last day of work at Helm's Christian Preschool as a teacher to two different classes of 12 students. I spent three years working there, and enjoyed every minute of it. I never woke up not wanting to go to work, I loved my job and the ladies I worked with. My time spent as a preschool teacher taught me many things about being a parent, and working with little ones....

However, my role is changing now as Weston's arrival is coming quickly. My role is no longer the working wife...but the stay at home mommy. And I am SO very excited that the Lord has called me to this new season of life. As strange as it was to leave what I had known as "work" for the past three years, I am looking forward to dedicating myself more fully to the role Christ has called me to. One I know that the World sees no value in...

It is sad to me that according to the world, having children is really one of the "least important" things you can do. Pretty much everything outranks them....schooling, jobs, traveling the world, being in shape, being able to go out whenever you want. It is only after everything else you desire has been accomplished that they are then taken into consideration. Ever since I finished my last day of work, I prayed that the Lord would help me fight against this popular world-view. That I would have a heart that sees motherhood as a calling and my mission field, not just a hobby. It is so easy to let yourself believe the lies the world has to offer. In her article, Motherhood Is a Calling, Rachel Jankovic states:

"Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for. Christian mothers carry their children in hostile territory. When you are in public with them, you are standing with, and defending, the objects of cultural dislike. You are publicly testifying that you value what God values, and that you refuse to value what the world values. You stand with the defenseless and in front of the needy. You represent everything that our culture hates, because you represent laying down your life for another—and laying down your life for another represents the gospel."

I am excited to live out my new role as a mother, to die to myself, to live out the gospel in ways that people won't always see. And although I know it will be a challenge, and I will certainly not do it perfectly, I am so happy to begin the role Christ has called me to. He sees value in it, and that is good enough for me!