My Greatest Desire

If you could do anything, be anything, what would it be?
If you could have one wish granted...what would you wish for?

Would you want to be a doctor?  An actor?  An artist?  The president of a Fortune-500 company?
A missionary?  Teacher?  Pastor?
All these are worthy callings.
But none of them (well, except missionary) have ever appealed to me.

I'll let you in on a secret--which you might already know about, if you've been here with me for a while.

The two things I've always wanted to be are a wife and mother.


There.  I said it.  If I could wish for anything, it would be to spend the rest of my life as a wife and mother.
Wife, check.
Mother...someday. :)

When I tell people this, I often get funny looks.  And questions like, "So why are you in college?"  (For the answer to that, read THIS POST.)  I'm at a small Christian university that, until just about fifteen or twenty years ago, was actually called a "Teachers' College."  And I'm not in the education program.  That puts me in a minority.

When I fill out applications for jobs and there are questions like, "What are your future goals?" or "How is this job preparation for your future career?" I shake my head and smile.  Because what I write is not what most people expect.

Since the 1970's, when feminism became popular and its influence filled nearly every household in America, it has been unusual and even strange for women to want to be full-time wives, mothers and homemakers.  For many women, it is absolutely necessary for their family's financial well-being that they work outside the home.  I'm sure there are many women in the workforce who wish they could stay home with their children.

But the fact that I have a choice, and I choose to stay home, is not nearly as common now as it used to be.

I'm blessed to have a husband who plans on helping me fulfill this dream.  On his (future teacher's) salary, we'll never have a lot of money, but we will never be wanting.  He supports me completely in my desire to be a full-time mother and homemaker.

I know that the profession of "homemaker" will not make me a lot of money.  It won't earn me much recognition in society.  My promotions--from mother of an infant, to a toddler, to a child, to a teen--won't increase my salary.  Learning new skills and perfecting the ones I have won't earn me a "Homemaker of the Month" plaque.

But love and appreciation from my husband and (future) children will be worth far more than that.  When I can look back on a life spent serving my family and those around me by being a godly wife, mother and homemaker, my greatest wish will have come true.

I don't have high aspirations or career goals according to the standards of society.  But when God created Eve he made her to be a helpmeet to her husband, to take care of the home in which God had placed them, and to be a loving mother to her children.  I like to think that God has given me the same jobs he gave the very first woman.  To fulfill them to the best of my ability, with his help and forgiveness, is my "dream job."

What about you?  To what vocation has God called you?