When Momma Ain’t Happy

As a homeschooling mentor I have the opportunity to speak to many women who share concerns about being overwhelmed with responsibilities. They wonder if the Chalcedon Teacher Training Institute is right for them, considering how behind they feel on a daily basis. They are reluctant to add another “thing” to their “To-Do” list.

Why are they overwhelmed? Are they as delinquent in their duties as they suppose? On the contrary. It is my experience that those who are sure they are underperforming as wives/mothers/home educators are often suffering from wrong priorities rather than deficient character or initiative. That is why becoming grounded in the application of God’s law-word to every aspect of life is a fundamental starting point and a true necessity for the woman of the house. Without it, it is easy to start applying false or skewed standards to day-to-day life. Women will look at Proverbs 31 and decide it is hopeless to even try to attain that standard; so they continue in their tidal wave of frustration and doubt. What they fail to understand is that one doesn’t become an excellent wife or mother overnight. Rather, one grows into the calling as a direct result of sanctification.

Sanctification comes as a result of time spent studying, learning, and applying God’s commandments to all areas of life and thought. A busy mother may think this will have to wait until the kids are grown and homeschooling is over. That would be like saying, “I’ll become a better driver once I no longer have to take the kids to their various activities.” You just might not get to your destination in one piece if you don’t take the time to improve this skill.

For many years, I read the promise in 1 Cor. 10:13 that we would never be tempted beyond what we can bear and that God would provide an escape route, waiting expectantly for some sort of biblical Lone Ranger to come to my rescue and remove my feelings of inadequacy and overload. Then, it dawned on me: the way of escape was contained in the very law-word of God – numerous copies of which sat on my bookshelf. That Living Word was the lamp unto my feet and the light I needed to proceed. What I needed was help in seeing how every word in the Bible applied to me. That’s where Rushdoony’s Institutes of Biblical Law became a powerful force. The more I learned just how much of my life I had not turned over to God’s commands, and how much I was operating in my own power, the more effective I became in dealing with issues within the family. The result was so pronounced, that I began to long for my study time the way some women long for a trip to the spa.

My husband likes to repeat the expression, When Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. He has made it a priority in our family life to try and make me happy. True happiness, though, comes to a woman when she is living out her calling under God to His glory. The Chalcedon Teacher Training Institute is designed to help the homeschooling mother evolve into the Proverbs 31 woman God intends for her to be, thereby giving her the reward she has earned -- accolades and praise from her husband and children as well as her works bringing praise from others in the public square (Prov. 31:28-31).