Stay At Home Moms, This is For YOU (And me, too! In the future, that is...)

The day I had read Ms. Marie Bonifacio's blog last year, that was the day that I realized that it is truly important for a mom to make sure that her kids grow up right.

I am planning to be a stay at home mom when I become a mommy, and Jim Laffoon's sermon validated me. :)

Lessons from the Life of the Judges: Jael - The Stay-At-Home Mom By Jim Laffoon Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent and she put a covering over him. “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink and covered him up. “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say ‘No,’” But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died. Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he went in with her and there lay Sisera, with a tent peg through his temple – dead. Judges 4:18-22 Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent dwelling women [stay-at-home moms]. Judges 5:24 As she cleaned her tent that day, the last thing on Jael’s mind was changing her nation. A faithful wife and tremendous mother, she had no aspirations beyond the life she had grown accustomed to. Yet, God had a surprise for his faithful servant that day, for destiny was knocking at her door. His name was Sisera; the ruthless commander of Israel’s most hated enemies. Although he claimed to be her husband’s friend, she knew that at heart, he was no more than a ruthless butcher. Now, with the human embodiment of all that was evil standing in her door, her heart was pounding with fear as she invited him in. He had been to her home on other occasions, but this was one of the first times she had ever been alone with him. Yet, as she considered his vulnerability, she realized that God had given this mass murderer into her hands. As Sisera slowly fell asleep, Jael’s eyes searched frantically for a weapon. Finally, when he was sleeping soundly, she took a sharpened tent peg and drove it into his head with the blows of a hammer. With those strokes, she ensured the freedom of her friends and family for a whole generation. If you are a stay-at-home mom today, or simply considering that as an option for your future, the message of this story is critical for you. One of the great lies of the enemy is that your role as a mother doesn’t really matter. He has tried to convince you that it is simply a menial task that anyone can do. This, however, is far from the truth. Even as God brought Sisera to Jael’s door, so there are a number of enemies standing at the door of your home which He has called you to kill. Whether it is the tide of immorality and amorality that it is flooding the airwaves, the deceptive lies that are shaping our society’s perspective of motherhood, or the loneliness and depression that seems to be the constant companion of many young mothers, your ability to defeat these enemies will have an incredible impact on more people than you can even imagine. That’s right, whether you realize it or not, you have an audience. Other mothers are watching the way you raise your children. The very fact that you live your life joyfully has caused them to question the enemy’s lies—lies that tell them that their only hope for lasting fulfillment lies outside the confines of home and family. Do you see it yet? Your willingness to stay at home and raise your children while they are young has put you at the very forefront of the battles that are raging in the cultures of our world. Far from limiting your destiny, staying at home has placed you in the very center of God’s will for your life. You have been given the opportunity to shape the lives of kingdom warriors who will continue to change the world long after you are gone. Furthermore, your joyful acceptance of God’s will for your life and the fulfillment you find through it endangers the enemy’s kingdom, because they contradict all the lies he has sown into the vulnerable hearts of mothers around the world. May God give you the grace to defeat the enemies that are knocking at your door, as you ponder these words today. © Copyright 2005 by Jim Laffoon