The Working Christian Mom
I am a full-time working mother. I am also a Christian. Why is it that there’s so little support for women like me? I find my job sometimes stressful, and I also find parenting sometimes stressful. Yet I find that there is so little support for women like me in church.
Some time ago, I attended a parenting seminar held by my church. The pastor shared about how it was so difficult to ask his wife to stop work, because she was more highly educated than him. During a later part of the seminar, his wife also said, “I do hope you are home when your children come home from school.” (Kids come home from school mid-afternoon in my country, so working moms won’t be home). The pastor and his wife are lovely people, but it seems that the church’s position is that mothers shouldn’t work at all. The family should lower their standard of living, so as to allow the mother not to work. If the mother must work (and this should be absolutely necessary), they should work in a part time job or some “easy” job, so that they can concentrate on their families.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not some hardcore, ambitious career woman, but I do take my job seriously and work hard at it. I juggle housework, a full-time job and the kids and at times, it feels too much. My husband and my kids are incredibly supportive, but I find that there are very few Christian resources for me, as if my job is something to be ashamed of.