Stand all day? Work on Christmas? And the job pays what?

Disclaimer: I'm not a parent. And this is another post about parenting. Parents out there, let me know what you think! 

You've probably seen this video. If you haven't, take four minutes and watch it right now -- you'll love it!

Okay, I admit it. This video made me tear up a little.

I realize that being a mom is not a "job" in that it's an occupation. But it is tough, that's for sure.

In today's culture, I think too many women downplay the role of mom. They let other people mother their children. They look at having a baby as something that ruins their body and taking care of their child as an inconvenience to their career or their social life.

Being a mom is an all-encompassing role. It is a 24/7/365 deal. Women need to know and accept this fact before entering into motherhood. It's not a one time delivery and then continuing on with life as she knew it. Her purpose in life changes. Her priorities have to shift. She will have to make sacrifices... but sacrifices that are worth it.

When women don't treat the role of "mom" with such importance, they rob both themselves and their child(ren) of the mother-child relationship's full potential.

No one said this would be easy. The people in the interview obviously thought the job sounded ridiculously tough and even "inhumane"... until they realized that the "job" was being a mom. Then they realized that yeah, it's what moms do.

Psalm 127:3 states, "Behold, children are a heritage from God, the fruit of the womb a reward."

I love that. Kids are a gift, a reward, our heritage, and the fruit of a woman's womb.

A blogger I like to read (and who posted about this video) pointed out that three times as much church growth occurs because of births rather than conversions. That means that kids born into Christian homes and become Christians themselves account for many more new Believers each year than do conversions of non-Christians into Christianity.

That makes being a mom (or a dad!) all the more important.

Our kids imitate what they see. What kind of faith are you putting off as a parent? What kind of habits do you display? Are some parents even around their kids long enough to display them? Do parents pray with their children, read and discuss the Bible together, or praise God as a family?

Parenthood should be fun, but both moms and dads need to recognize how important the role is before taking it on and consider whether they are ready for the commitment it takes to raise a child. Christian families should especially realize how crucial their role is for their child's life and salvation.

The Most Controversial Topic Ever

Parenting: a topic perhaps more controversial than any other. Yes, I know, there are some pretty controversial topics out there. But think about: no two sets of parents are the exact same and two parents of the same children often disagree. How to parent affects many people on a daily basis.

I'm not a parent, but plan to be. How I want to parent my children is a topic I think about once or twice almost every day. Whenever I'm around kids, I often take mental notes of how I want to handle similar situations with my future kids or how I would like to change things. I observe parents and how they respond to temper tantrums as well as children who are well behaved.

Image found here.

This guy and his wife, who had 12 kids in about 15 years, choose to parent their kids one of "the hard ways".

Reading his article, I thought that Thompson was tough on his kids. I mean, making them build their own computer, build their own car, start chores at age three... what parents! Of course, my parents had me do chores and laundry, but they would never make me cook dinner or change the oil and especially at such early ages!

Who can keep up with all that study time, all the chores, all the car parts, the sports, the clubs, the community service! Those kids had a lot of work to do!

But the result is amazing.

The Thompson parents did their children a huge favor by raising them "the hard way". Their kids are the type of people who employers want to hire. They can think critically, study hard, work on difficult projects, and build machines. If they don't know how to do it, they'll figure it out. They've been solving problems for years!

In addition, they have had to serve others: their younger siblings, their entire household, and the community. They have developed an empathy for others.

The Thompson kids also had to learn financial responsibility. They weren't handed fancy cars and vacations. They had to work, earn, and save for them.

Reading their story, it made me glad that I'm already grown and my mom and dad can't get any ideas. Seriously, these tasks and requirements look so daunting.

But the result is worth it. The Thompson's have raised self-sufficient, problem-solving, hard-working, and empathetic kids.

As parents, I'm sure there were many times when it would have been easier just to call it off and solve the problems for their kids, or excuse them from a chore, or cut down on all the commitments. But for the most part, they stuck to it. They parented all 12 of their children "the hard way".

Is there a "correct" way to parent?

Would you change anything about how the Thompson parents did parenting? 

I'm a Christian and I Could Not Care Less about the "Noah" Movie

Picture found on IMBD

Since I'm not on Facebook right now, I feel a little out of the loop when things like a silly movie, or a simple blog post, or a simple blog post about a silly movie, upsets the entire Christian community. Thankfully, I've got three other Facebook users in the house who can let me know when our mutual Christian friends are getting their underwear in a wad over this sort of thing.

So apparently some guy named Darren something wrote and directed some movie staring some well-known actors about some Bible story. Well, not just any story. One of the first stories in the whole Scripture: the story of Noah and the flood that wiped out almost all of humankind.

Christians everywhere are in an outrage about the film's "artistic licenses" and all of the changes that this Darren guy has made that deviate from the original words in the Bible.

Now, I haven't seen the film. And I don't plan to see the film. If I wasn't a Christian, I probably would not have even known that this film existed because I don't watch commercials and I don't keep up with movies all that well. Plus the movies are just too darn expensive anyway! (But that's another rant for another blog post.)

But even with all the publicity and rage and the fact that I am a Christian who likes the story of Noah... I'm still not going to go see the film.

Why?

Because I know it would be a waste of my time.

I have literally not seen even one of this Darren guy's other films. They are made for a more mature audience and do not look appealing to me in the least. Black Swan? Requiem for a Dream? The Wrestler? The titles alone don't sound like my cup of tea and after reading the descriptions, I'd have to say pass.

So why are so many Christians wasting their time and money watching, thinking about, or raging about this guy's movie called "Noah". The man is not a Christian and does not claim to be. He's a Hollywood director, not a theologian. I wouldn't trust a Hollywood director to teach my children a Sunday school lesson. Would you? (Please say no.)

What's all the rage? Why get so angry? It's a silly film, for crying out loud, and I think even non-Christians know that the director is going to take some artistic liberties and change the story a bit. If anything, it might cause non-Christians to want to go read the story of his or herself.

It saddens me that the Christians of my generation are all worked up over this stupid film. It's just a movie! And yet we're going to war over whether or not it's Biblical, whether it captures the true nature of the story, whether stories in Genesis are merely metaphorical or truly historical.

It's not that those issues don't matter, but come on. Get over it. Move it.

Again, I must repeat, a non-Christian, Hollywood director wrote and directed the film. It's not going to be a Sunday school lesson.

If Darren's other films appeal to you, go spend eight bucks on "Noah". If they don't, stay home, or go see that "Muppets Most Wanted" or go see that "God's Not Dead" movie.

The great things about this country: you have options; you have freedom. So pick a movie you're going to like and stop worrying about whether or not this "Noah" movie is going to drive Americans farther away from God than they already are. I can assure you, it will have little to no effect on the average atheist.

I'm a Christian, and I could not care less about the "Noah" movie.