Editor's Note: This is the first in a four part Mother's Day series written by 2013 Daystar alumna and Daystar U.S. scholarship recipient, Dorcas Koome.
Motherhood: The Place of Responsibility—Raising Future Parents
The roles of a mother are nurturing, comforting, and teaching children within the family context.
She is responsible for homemaking, supports decision making and is the certified gatekeeper for meals, clothing and the atmosphere of the home. We turn houses into home. We turn groceries into meals. We turn smiles into love from the heart. By God’s design mothers are multi-faceted and wear many hats. Whether one is a working or stay at home, motherhood is a big responsibility. Our words and actions, our choices and desires strongly influence how the children grow and the fulfillment of God’s plan for their lives. Our prayers are very powerful. Some mothers are married, some are single moms, some are widows, some have had miscarriages or have lost a child. Motherhood is a noble calling entrusted to us by God. Motherhood shapes our lives in deeply transforming ways.
Motherhood, as with parenting as a whole is about knowing you are partnering with God to raise future parents. In his book, Raising Future Parents, Dr. Stanley Mukolwe says that you can choose when to marry, you could even choose when to get children but you cannot choose when to parent. They grow so fast! Whether you consciously participate, you are parenting. Naturally, you as a parent want to set your little ones on the path to success. That is where the challenge comes in. Having unresolved past issues, the fear of trying too hard and failing, receiving tips from many people around you all leave you in a messy camp.
I wish I could speak for my daughter BRAVE about her mother. Her dreams and wishes. I will instead speak for myself and other moms and hope our words and actions reflect our dreams for our daughters and sons. Motherhood is a gift we've been given; an honor and a privilege. We don't choose the gift. We simply need to pull our sails up and trust God with the results.
From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. Genesis 3:15
Those words spell war, blood and tears, joy and victory. This is what the journey of motherhood is. Soft and prickly. This and that. In the midst of the chaos, there is beauty, giving birth to beautiful chaos. Motherhood is worth it, especially when you experience the smile of grace. Unmerited favor that changes everything including YOU!
Dorcas Koome
An advocate of hope, a wife, mother, lover of children, homemaking and photography - a child of God. Dorcas is married to Steve. Her passion is in speaking the heart of God to broken, wounded hearts all around shaped by low self-esteem, rejection and loss of identity. After overcoming a bout of depression and hopelessness, she decided to focus on encouraging and challenging single and married women to find their worth in God and keep showing up knowing that even behind the perceived or real closed doors, God is always working to fulfill the good plans He has for them, His children. Dorcas is currently a Project Manager and PA to the CEO at Timeless Women of Wonder (TWOW), in Nairobi Kenya. She is an Alumni of Daystar University where her values of faith, courage and integrity were clarified and molded to transformative servant leadership, a journey she is still on.
She currently blogs at www.dorcaskoome.wordpress.com