Why I Chose To Be A Stay-At-Home Mother:Part 1

                  My children are definitely blessings in my life! I am so thankful unto God for allowing my husband and I to become stewards to two of His greatest gifts! Psalm 127:3 states, “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” I know that I have quoted that verse in several of my articles, but I truly feel as if my husband and I have been given a great reward with the birth of our children! Before I ever became expecting, I knew that I wanted to stay at home with my children during their first few years before they attended school. When my daughter was born in 2014, I chose to leave a career in Mental Health Counseling to stay home with her. In 2015, we were blessed with our son, and I still am enjoying staying home with both of my children.  Here are some reasons why I felt it necessary to be a stay at home mother. 
1. Because it is what God wants.  It is the role of women to be keepers of the home while their husbands work outside of the home. “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:4-5).”  “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (I Timothy 5:8). Being “keepers at home” involves not only maintenance of the actual home being lived in, but also taking care of those that live in the home. It is the responsibility of the mother to care for her children while her husband provides for his family financially. A mother who puts her responsibility of taking care of her under school aged children onto someone else while she goes and does another job to obtain luxuries is the same as a man who refuses to financially support his family and instead expects others to take care of him and his family.  At no time should any woman allow a job outside of the home to cause her to neglect her duties as keeper of the home. 
2. Because I never want to miss any of my children’s “firsts.”  Over the years that I have worked outside of the home, I remember hearing many coworkers who were mothers of small children complain and even cry about missing their baby’s first word, first steps, and other milestones that they chose to miss in order to keep a secular job. I remember some mothers saying that their baby was getting more attached to the babysitter than them! I also remember hearing mothers who have said that they wish they could stay home with their children but they like their luxuries too much! When a mother chooses to put making money in front of spending valuable time with their children, it is only natural that she is going to miss some of the most important parts of that child’s life. It’s like my mother always told me, “A baby is only little for a short time, but there will always be jobs out there when the child gets bigger.” I am thankful that my mother chose to wait to get a job after I started school. My parents did not make much money, but she still felt that I was more important than having an extra income. As a result, she was there for all of my “firsts,” and I am thankful unto God that I can say the same for my children. My children are gifts from God, and I do not want to miss all of this valuable time I have with them that I will never have again. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” No material possession in this world can replace seeing my smiling babies every morning, and seeing them get bigger day by day! I am also very thankful to my husband for accepting his responsibility as head of the house by working every day to provide for us! Luxury items such as phones, television, internet, computers, and so forth are  not worth having someone else raise your children 8 or 9 hours a day.  Obviously, many of us are blessed with luxuries, but never should we allow them to come before our children.  Children are a blessing, and they should be treated as more important than making extra money in order to have material possessions that are not needed in order to survive. 

I hope you have enjoyed Part I of "Why I Chose To Be A Stay-At-Home Mother." Part 2 of this article will be available to read next week! 

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