The Radiant Mission Podcast | Episode 28
Host: Rebecca Twomey @theradiantmission
Co-Host: Rachel Smith @rachelsmithsmith
Thank you for listening to The Radiant Mission podcast! We are on a mission to encourage and inspire you on your walk with Christ and as you journey through life.
In Episode 28 we discuss finding purpose as a stay-at-home mom. We explore the identity shift that comes from transitioning from a career to becoming a stay-at-home mom and how doing so is an opportunity to reshape our relationship with the Lord.
In This Episode on Finding Purpose as a Stay-at-Home Mom:
Rachel shares her history with work and college.
She dabbled in dietetics but landed in family and child sciences and jokingly says she has a degree in parenting. But ultimately, Rachel’s passion was as a bridal makeup artist. She worked as a makeup artist for many years until she became a mom. After scaling her work back for a few years, she ultimately retired to stay-at-home with her kids.
Ultimately, becoming a stay-at-home mom was planned.
It didn’t happen spontaneously or without a plan, but was something that was discussed for many years before it went into action. It meant financial sacrifice.
There is a misconception that you have to be well-off to be able to stay home with your kids. The truth is it took planning and sacrifice. You don’t have to be well-off; you just have to be resourceful.
Oftentimes the best life and path we can give our kids, especially one that glorifies the Lord, is when mom is directing her children.
Raising, teaching, and parenting as the sole caretaker is an opportunity for us to guide them in the way they should go.
Our time with our children while they’re little is very fleeting. Even understanding this it can be difficult to let go of a job or career where we find identity or purpose.
It’s a hard thing to give up what essentially feels like your identity.
A lot of us not so rightly put our identity in our careers. The Lord worked on Rachel’s heart and convicted her that her identity is in Christ, not in a career or even being a mother.
Even though leaving her career was hard, Rachel realized her kids would only be young once. She knew it was the time to sacrifice.
This doesn’t mean that it was easy. Rachel has since struggled with her identity while in the trenches of motherhood. But she’s also learned that the actions she performs as a mom, whether it’s cooking, cleaning, or playing with her children, are all forms of worship. Everything we do for others we can do unto the Lord.
The opportunity to serve our children can be our ministry to serve the Lord. We can speak life over our children.
What you speak into the life of your child is what they believe.
I lot of people in our generation have a lot of damage from things that were said to them as children. What we learn and what we hear programs us.
Being a stay-at-home mom allows for teaching moments that can have a big impact.
Advice: during moments of frustration, take a moment to ask the Lord to guide our response before we respond.
Being a stay-at-home mom is the honor of sacrifice. Sacrificing a career, time, pride, identity, is the least we can do for a God who sacrificed it all for us.
Once we are able to embrace this, our fulfillment comes from the Lord. We can honor him as we sacrifice more of ourselves. Ultimately our purpose is not to live for ourselves. It’s the love the Lord our God with our body, mind, and soul. And second, is to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Bible Verses Mentioned on Finding Purpose as a Stay-at-Home Mom:
Proverbs 22:6
Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.
Proverbs 18:21
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Psalm 17:6
“I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.”
1 John 5:14-15
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
Matthew 11:28-30:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Resources Mentioned:
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