Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 11:2 (Fall 2006)
Article: Motherhood Matters
Author: Mary K. Mohler

---

JBMW 11:2 (Fall 2006) p. 48

Motherhood Matters

Mary K. Mohler

Homemaker;
Director, Seminary Wives Institute;
President’s Wife,
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Louisville, Kentucky

I truly cannot remember a time when I didn’t dream of becoming a mother. When I finally achieved that goal at the age of 27, I was not disappointed in the least. In fact, I believe that looking for the first time into the eyes of your baby, whom you know through birth or adoption, is one of the greatest experiences a woman can have on earth.

Let’s remember that motherhood is God’s idea. Only eighty verses into the Bible do we read that Eve said, “With the help of the Lord, I have brought forth a man” (Gen. 4:1). Think about what it must have been like for Eve. She could not consult the ever-popular volume What To Expect When You’re Expecting. She had no mother or mother-in-law to consult. Ponder that! No one could tell her horror stories about labor. She only had Adam to confirm that she was getting quite pudgy around the middle. Finally, she gave birth to the first baby. What a moment that must have been!

Elsewhere in Scripture, we read fascinating tales of motherhood. In Genesis 21, Sarah dealt with the fact that there were Fertile Myrtles in seemingly every tent, but she remained barren. Even her husband’s mistress, Hagar, bore a son, but Sarah kept on waiting. God rewarded her patience with the birth of Isaac when she was ninety years old.

Think about Hannah. Her heart ached with the passion to be a mom. She promised the Lord that she would give her child to God. He provided Samuel, and Hannah kept her promise. How hard must it have been to send him off as a toddler. First Samuel records that Hannah “made a little robe” for Samuel. He soon grew up to be a significant leader who anointed two kings while God blessed Hannah with many other children.

The amazing accounts of the pregnancies of Elizabeth and Mary in the New Testament stir the hearts of every believer but especially of women who have known the joy of motherhood.

Yes, motherhood is God’s idea. No improvement is needed. He purposefully

JBMW 11:2 (Fall 2006) p. 49

created women to carry, give birth to, nurse, nurture, teach, and tenderly love our children in a way unique to our gender. Women tend to think with their hearts first and then with their heads, unlike men. Many an advertiser has picked up on the concept that women looking into a crib have warm, fuzzy feelings. Men look in the crib and start wondering how there will ever be enough money to send Junior to co...

visitor : : uid: ()