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Saturday, October 22, 2011

The Supermom Dream






I don't agree with everything the writers of Boundless put forward, but their perspectives give me a lot to think about, and I really enjoy reading what they have to say. Candice Watters has written a couple of articles lately which look back on previous pieces she's written, and update her beliefs on the same subjects. I'm working on a post discussing her view on the book of Ruth, and today I read her article titled Kids Don't Retrofit, and found it extremely refreshing.

She begins, "I used to think I could fit kids into my life."

Isn't that the dream of so many women today? We go to college and find ourselves face to face with opportunities for the career we've always wanted. We want to get married, we want children someday, but that doesn't mean we've got to just drop all of our goals of success in the working world, does it?

Of course not, culture tells us. June Cleaver's day is past and gone...if you want to be a truly successful woman, be a Stephanie Powell. In last year's TV show "No Ordinary Family," Stephanie is a research scientist with two teenaged children and a husband who works as a sketch artist at the police department. In the episode, "No Ordinary Visitors," her mom comes to visit and continually nags on her for devoting so much time to her career, but the episode ends with this apology (begin at 39:00): http://www.videobb.com/watch_video.php?v=AHbpInUZL210


“Stephanie, I know I've been tough on you. Just, when I see all you've accomplished in your life, it makes me feel like I could have done more with mine. Maybe even more than just a wife and mother.”


Stephanie protests, but really, her position is exactly where so many of today's women only dream of being. What's the catch? Stephanie has superpowers. It's tempting to want to try and be our own little Stephanie Powells, but honestly, we just can't run at the speed of light. My question even past that is, how would her life change with six or seven children instead of two? And more importantly, what does God want women to be doing with their lives?

Candice says,

"For all the debates that rage about whether mothers of young children should work and whether they should place their children in daycare, rarely, if ever, does anyone ask, "What would you want if you were a toddler?" Pop psychologists have conditioned us to assume the answer would be, "I'd want what would make my mommy happy, because that would make our relationship better!" But deep down, I know I'd want someone to love me enough to make me a priority--even if that meant they had to sacrifice something." 

God wants us to sacrifice. He gave some of us children and told us to teach and train them up in His way--why should we stop at using anything less than our fullest potential to fulfill this calling?

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
          ~Deuteronomy 11


(Photo credit: http://www.huffingtonpost.com)

1 comment:

artfling said...

Putting your fingers on the pulse of the argument again.