I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and you mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. — 2 Timothy 1:5, ESV
The hardest thing for me to learn as a new mother was that this job is as valuable as my previous jobs. The lack of accolades, delayed results, and feelings of incompetence, made me feel like I was less, “just a mom,” because I chose this job. Then through my daily quiet time God began showing me that I am anything but just a mom.
What if Lois or Eunice Timothy’s grandmother and mother had thought they were “just a mom” and didn’t exercise their influence and pass their faith in God to their children? A powerful preacher would have been lost.
What if Moses’ mother had thought of herself as “just a mom” and not used her ingenuity to save her son? Israel would have lost their great leader.
What if Naomi had underestimated her influence, thought she was “just a mom,” and not encouraged Ruth to pursue Boaz? King David would have never been born, and we wouldn’t have his example as a “man after God’s own heart.”
Through these examples and more, I’m slowly learning to not see myself as “just a mom,” but as one of the many women in the business of molding and shaping the world of tomorrow.
Long Sit
This realization did not come easy. Transitioning from the world of education to child rearing has been such a personal struggle for me. Some days it has been an all out identity crisis. In conversations I would fear placing greater importance on my role as a mother verses that as an adjunct professor because I thought I would not be taken as seriously. “I teach writing as SNU and OSU,” seemed to have a better ring to it than, “I’m a stay at home mom.”
Slowly, God has been prying my hands off my security blanket of identity. Thankfully, this time around he has been gentle. Through the examples above, but especially through examples I find in 1 and 2 Kings, He is showing me just how important a mother’s influence can be. We are anything but “just a mother.”
A quick glance through 1 and 2 Kings will show you that without fail when a king turned to the Lord his mother’s name is listed1. Even more interesting is that when a Godly king’s son falls away from God, his mother’s name is also listed2. The only exception is Jehoshaphat King of Judah’s son, Jehoram, and his wife’s name is listed3.
The most powerful examples for me were Hezekiah and his son Manasseh4, as well as Josiah and his son Jehoahaz5. As you may know both Hezekiah and Josiah were very godly kings. Of Hezekiah it was even said, “He trusted in the LORD the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD”6. In both cases, these godly kings came from evil fathers. However, also in both cases their sons who reigned after them were evil. How could such righteous men come from evil fathers? Or evil men come from righteous fathers? The only explanation given is the names of their mothers.
Over the last two years these examples have served to impress on me just how very important mothers are. In the Old Testament, those mothers had the power to change a nation’s history. Our children or husbands may never be king, however, they touch many lives every time they leave our homes. Though, we may be tempted to think of ourselves as “just a mom,” we are really anything but.
1 1 Kings 15:9-11, 22: 41-42; 2 Kings 11:21-12:2, 14:1-3 are a few examples
2 1 Kings 14:21-22; 2 Kings 8:25-27
3 2 Kings 8:16-18
4 2 Kings 18-21:18
5 2 Kings 22-23
6 2 Kings 18:5-6
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