Let’s be honest. We’ve all thought it before…”I live in Mommy Prison.”
Being a stay-at-home mom, especially for one with young children, is hard! Sleep deprivation, loneliness, frustration over disobedience, unending messes and diapers…all of this plays quite a toll on a Mommy’s attitude and perspective.
I personally have days in which I wake up in the morning thankful for my role as Mommy and ready to serve my family well, but by 5:30 that afternoon I have totally forgotten the joy of my calling and absolutely am sick of serving!
As a Mommy, it is so easy to forget the joy and honor of our station in life. It is also so easy to forget how truly good we have it. Yes, we have rough days. Days that drain us of strength and encouragement.
But take a look at the “days” that these women and mommies have had…it makes my own problems seem a little more manageable.
Ann Judson (1789-1826)
Ann and her husband, Adoniram, left the day after their wedding to be missionaries in Burma. Burma was an unknown and “heathen” land that had no previous contact with Christianity. Ann was not dragged along or talked into this…she was so in love with Jesus that she was ready to go anywhere and do anything to tell others about Him!
Years later, pregnant and in the middle of their translation work, Ann and her husband were accused of being spies for the British. Adoniram was thrown into a death prison and tortured. He eventually came down with a serious tropical fever.
The entire time that Adoniram was locked away, Ann slept in nearby huts to care for him. When he was forced to walk miles to another prison, she followed. (Pregnant!)
When he was finally released, Ann soon died of a fever. Their infant daughter died six months later.
Ann Judson stood by her man and found joy in her terrible circumstances. She served her family well! She would sneak in scraps food for husband while he was in jail; I bake my husband a casserole and have it ready when he gets home from work.
Like the words of the hymn say…”Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, It is well, with my soul.” Ann’s life makes me realize, how dare I complain?!?
The Lord has portioned out our lots…Ann’s was full of trial. Up to this point, He has seen fit to keep suffering at bay in my own life.
Elisabeth Elliot (1926-Present)
Many of you are probably fairly familiar with the story of Elisabeth Elliot. She and her new husband, Jim, were missionaries to a primitive tribal people known as the Auca Indians.
After a seemingly friendly first contact with several of the Indians, Jim and four other missionaries were speared to death. Elisabeth and her 10-month-old daughter remained with the tribe and eventually won the Auca people over to Christ.
I greatly, greatly admire Elisabeth Elliot. If there is any one woman that I believe emulates a truly thankful heart, it is Elisabeth.
There is a quote of hers that I want to share with you. I bring it to mind often when I am feeling prone to complaining. This quote was taken soon after the death of her husband, Jim, when she was talking with some other missionary wives. “I would give anything for my bathroom sink to be filled with Jim’s whiskers again. How I would love to have a load of his laundry to wash. It would mean he is here.”
Whenever I am leaning over the bathtub scrubbing out a dirty, smelly cloth diaper, I try to think of her words. The truth is, when I wash my baby’s cloth diaper, it means that he is here. That his intestines work right. That he is healthy.
Elisabeth Elliot’s godly perspective has been a great counter to my own complaining attitude.
I hope that the lives of these two women serve to encourage you! Scripture promises us that we will never be given more than we can handle. (I Cor. 10:13) If I have a day filled with crazy kids and dirty floors, I can rest in that promise. And not only rest, but rejoice! For the Lord has seen fit to bless me with a husband and children…what a gift!
“Ann Judson” photo by: Clark Dunlap
“Elisabeth Elliot” photo by: starry cluster
