Devotions for Women: Why the Church Needs to View Working and Stay-at-Home Moms Equally

Devotions for Women

The subject of a woman's place has long been a point of contention within the church. Arguments have been broached on both sides for decades, and there probably is no end in sight for the near future.

While many may make a biblical argument for one or the other viewpoint, I am writing merely from personal experience with zero theological training in my background. I was raised in the church, my father was a pastor, I married a youth pastor, and my roots are primarily Baptist. That being said, I have a lot of thoughts on the subject. Bear with me; I don't intend to argue.

For the longest time growing up, I planned to be exactly what my mom was: a stay-at-home mom. Granted, I would always add the clause that I didn't want to have kids too fast, so when I did marry, I waited ten years before taking the leap into motherhood. I've always been rather independent and strong-willed, with a penchant for not listening and a tendency to be defensive of my actions and decisions.

When I became expectant with my daughter, it became clear that I would not be a stay-at-home mom. Whether it was self-perceived or real, I felt as though the moment I said that to fellow believers, there was a stigma attached to me that I was seeking to maintain my independence from the family and wanting to be a self-made woman. It was tolerated, but it wasn't cheered on by a percentage of the church. In other words, while no one really said anything critical, no one responded with a "good for you"!

This made me realize it is sometimes overlooked within the church as we praise mothers and their work inside the home while studying the other mothers and their work outside the home - gauging whether it's necessary or if the woman is trying to make a feminist statement of some sort, and so on. The church doesn't typically respond with a "why?" when they find out that a woman will be staying home with her children to be a homemaker. The church often responds with a "why?" when they find out a woman has chosen to continue their career and not remain in the home.

It's that disparity that hasn't made me bitter but has made me question. Several factors came into play in my decision to be a career woman for the first eleven years of my daughter's life.