Welcome to Her Sacred Burden

Isn’t it a beautiful thing when a phrase or quote jumps out at you and encapsulates so thoroughly something you’ve been thinking and praying about? 

I’ve been praying about starting a blog for a few months, and before that it had a place firmly lodged in the back of my mind for years.  I’ve heard the discouraging stories of blogs that take 3 or more years to gain a good readership and any kind of income, and I’ve seen the stories (are they clickbait?  Who knows…) of people who’re earning an income on a blog within 3 months. 

I’ve followed blogs throughout the years that were instrumental in my growth and learning on anything from homeschooling to how to make my own laundry detergent. And more and more I’ve sensed that I want to be that person.  Be that helper who comes alongside someone else and teaches and encourages, not as someone who knows it all but as someone who’s learned some things she’s excited to share.

Since I was a child, I’ve wanted to write. And in these last months, the desire to start a blog has grown exponentially.  I thought and prayed about all kinds of things I could blog about. Who would my target audience be? How could I help them? What kinds of topics can I talk on and on about over weeks and months and years? Can I commit to a blog if it does become even moderately successful? 

I knew I wanted to write for people like me. As often as I can feel like I’m an odd duck, I know that I share the same struggles and interests and triumphs and goals as many other women, and I knew I wanted them to be my readers.  Moms, wives, Christians, homeschoolers, homemakers, health enthusiasts. I kept coming back to wanting to help other moms take care of themselves and their families well.

And then one day, I saw the quote.  I’m not even sure where.  Somewhere online, I’m sure.  It’s from Elisabeth Elliot in her book “The Shaping of a Christian Family.” 

She says, “The process of shaping the child, shapes the mother herself.  Reverence for her sacred burden calls her to all that is pure and good, that she may teach primarily by her own humble, daily example.”

And it resonated with me deeply.  It spoke to so many things I’ve been learning lately as a mom, and truly encapsulated all those varied topics that had swirled through my mind concerning the blog. 

I’ve struggled like any woman has with being exhausted as a mom, with wondering if what I’m doing makes any impact on them, with wanting to use the bathroom just once without hearing a knock and “Hey Mom?” at the door.  I’ve struggled with resenting motherhood and all that comes with it.

“The process of shaping the child, shapes the mother herself.”

A good potter knows he can’t do whatever he wants with the clay and have it magically take form, he’s got to work with the substance in ways it’s able to be used.  The potter has to learn and grow and try and fail and figure out this material he’s using as he’s figuring out how to shape it – what it can even be shaped into.

Likewise, we as moms need to learn and grow, adapt and try and fail. 

As we shape, we are shaped.

“Reverence for her sacred burden calls her to all that is pure and good…”

Like most people, I tend to think of a burden as a bad thing.  We hear people say, “I don’t want to be a burden” or complain about anything that’s going to take much work.  We want easy. We want life hacks.

But Jesus gives us a yoke and a burden.  A light and easy one compared to sin’s, but a burden nonetheless. Merriam-Webster defines burden as “something that is carried; load; duty; responsibility.” 

God Himself has given us a responsibility as moms to raise our kids to the best of our abilities, hanging on to Him as we do for strength and guidance.  So to call being a mother to my two children my sacred burden is not a complaint, but about as beautiful and realistic as it gets.

“that she may teach primarily by her own humble, daily example.”

The little things matter.  Our habits as moms. How we talk to or about our husbands. Our time spent with God in His Word.  Bringing Him up in conversation. Stopping to have the tough discussions that always seem to come up at 10:00 p.m.  Cleaning the vomit from the carpet at 3:00 a.m.  Having a plan for dinner every. Single. Day. Of. Our. Lives.

We can do all that without reverence, without striving for purity and goodness, without humility. But we are called not just to the basic physical needs.  We’re called also to the spiritual, mental, emotional. There are complex image-bearing people in our care.  The sacredness of the burden draws us to higher things.

All told at the inception of this blog, I’m nervous. I’m excited. I wonder if I’m wasting my time.  I can’t seem to figure out the next step without much wondering and questioning and Googling. But I’m here.  Let’s see what happens.