"Ruling the World" or "Letting Down the Team"

I think it is fair to say that each of us would like, at the end of our lives, to look back and say that our lives were really worth something. We want to know that we had an influence, that we changed things for the better. As John Piper says, "Don't waste your life!"

Feminist Linda Hirshman is disturbed by the trend that more and more women are choosing to stay home with their children. She thinks that they are inhibiting societal progress, taking a definite step back from the advances made by the feminist era. They aren't being team-players for women, she says. They're wasting their lives!!!

Don't miss Rev. Al Mohler's commentary on this: http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_read.php?cdate=2006-02-24

I wonder, though. I wonder what the reality is when at the end of the life of a woman who has spent her days making herself and someone else a few more bucks evaluates the whole of her life. She has missed the majority of her children's childhood (if she has them), missed the opportunity to mould someone's character into something truly great, all for what?

Yes, the life of a stay-at-home mom can be pretty unexciting. It is tedious. You perform the same tasks over and over again daily. You mop the floor knowing that as soon as you and the kids eat breakfast tomorrow, it won't look like you've done anything! Yet, that is only a short term view, because in the process of eating breakfast and living the "tedious" life day after day, you give life to another. You teach them how to communicate, how to respect authority, how to build relationships. As they grow older, you teach them the proper priorities in the Christian life.
I think the dying woman who has invested her life in a number of children will know the truth, that she "sacrificed" a life of triviality for a life of eternal, multi-generational value. She has died to self so many times; she has held her sick children at the risk of getting the illness herself. She has cleaned up the most disgusting messes. She has endured agony on their behalf. She has accepted interruption of her personal sleep time, her personal pleasure time, and her personal agenda to put someone else's needs first. And now, she has her offspring going forth, continuing her legacy, and if she was a godly woman, it is the legacy of Christ. She was an organic part of her children's success and godliness.

Indeed, Glory to God, she rules the world!