[by Dean Smith] Years ago, I attended a political meeting, when a young stay-at-home mom nervously approached a mike in an open session to address the several politicians, including the party leader, sitting at the front.

She expressed her desire to be at home looking after her young children. She believed it was an important job, but government policies including higher taxation rates were making it increasingly difficult for her family to do this.

It seemed everyone, in this largely conservative gathering, applauded her statement. Well, everyone I guess, except one.

After the session was over, the crowd milled around in the foray as the politicians busily worked the crowd. I saw the mother standing with her husband. I wanted to thank her for what she said. However, another woman, with a very stern face, spied the mother first and made a direct bee line to her.

She immediately was in the face of the young mom, one finger-pointing at her and shouting how wrong she was. Women needed to be in the work force and making a difference in society, she said.

It wasn’t a discussion it was a one-sided shouting match as this irate woman verbally assaulted this mother. And it was obvious the angry woman wanted everyone in the foray to hear this confrontation.

In her brief statement at the mike, the young mom in no way criticized women who were in the work force. All she expressed was her desire for policies that allowed a woman to stay at home if she wanted to.

But apparently the very idea a woman would even want to be at home with her children deserved a public scourging.

The emotional vent was so out of proportion to what the young mom had said, I couldn’t understand what was going on. Then it dawned on me, this irate woman was feeling guilty.

While society downgrades the importance of being a mother, pressuring women to enter the work force, a survey conducted last fall in England revealed women have the greatest sense their life is worthwhile when they are at home looking after their children.

The study also found women were not only happier when caring for their family, but they were among the happiest, most contented people in England when they did.

The study conducted by England’s Office for National Statistics measured the “well-being” of Britons. It  asked such questions as how satisfied people were with their life and whether what they were doing was worthwhile. They needed to rank their answers on a scale of one to ten.

When asked to measure their life in terms of happiness, mothers were among the top coming in a close third behind students and pensioners who placed first at 7.73 out of ten.

However, when asked how worthwhile their job was, stay-at-home mothers easily soared to the lead scoring 8.03 out of ten — 83% of women ranked staying at home with children as “high” or “very high” in terms of value.

In an interview in The Telegraph, Laura Perrin, who campaigns for an organization called “Mothers at Home Matter,” said:

“This just goes to show that the idea that we are all at home depressed and unhappy looking after our children — which a lot of politicians would like to believe — is simply wrong. It is clearly a worthwhile vocation, should you choose to do it.”

She further added stay-at-home moms are making a valuable contribution to society despite what others may suggest.

In his letter to Timothy, Paul specifically addressed the legacy of faith passed on to Timothy by both his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5-6). However, these two women not only passed on their faith, but also prepared a boy for his role as key leader in the early church.

If a woman wants to work outside the home, no problem. Just don’t vilify and mock those who do stay at home. Their job is important.

 

Read more:

• Stay-at-home mothers ‘have the most worthwhile live’: The Telegraph