Reaching for the stars

I often see young women today who have bought the feminists' lies that they can have it all... the job, the marriage, the well kept home, the nice cars and furniture not to mention nice clothes... and still juggle motherhood successfully, often taking just enough time off work to give birth and then sometimes only weeks after, to return leaving a new baby and usually others in childcare. Just writing it all down makes my head spin!Perhaps it all seems possible with a sympathetic spouse who helps with household chores, and a strong network of family or childcare workers for the children. But one wonders, for how long?

I fell victim to working outside the home when my children were young. Having obeyed my then husband and gone to work leaving young ones either with him or my mother, I can testify to the inability to totally give ones' constant attention to detail at work when one has a sick child at home or when just plain missing them.I can testify to the almost boiling point of emotions at small problems at home that would once be taken in their stride... fatigue makes pressure cookers of us all.

Not only that, but I can attest to emotions that one would rather not admit to: having to not only cook a meal but clean the kitchen, sneak in another load of washing after the kids have been bathed and made ready for bed whilst Husband falls asleep on the couch... obviously worn-out from his own day of labour outside the home. And there is *still* so much she has to do!

The powder keg ignites when Husband, feeling refreshed from his 40 winks, decides at 11:30 when her head finally hits the pillow, that the Games must begin! And as a tired body tries to overcome fatigue and desires only sleep, a not so romantic emotion creeps in: resentment! And then we have marriage problems which could have been avoided. Over the last few years, I have observed this at close quarters.

Several mothers of young children in our family have thought they could have it all. Some have found out that they can't. And some are still striving, unable to relinquish the dream that feminists have implanted in their minds: that they *can* have it all.... without any side-effects! And there *are* side-effects!

One mother went back to work six weeks after giving birth. She chose to work night-shift so that Husband could mind Baby at night and she could do so during the day. Not only did she end up with a king-size case of post-natal depression, but she also developed panic-attacks which were so debilitating that she (unwisely) turned to alcohol to stop them. Fortunately, her husband realised that the stress of achieving the Have-it-all Dream was killing his wife, and he told her to quit working. Fortunately, she was able to get medication for the anxiety and was able to curtail her intake of alcohol. But it nearly cost her her health, her marriage, her children and her home!

Another mother who is still striving suffers from migraines, tiredness that prevents her from falling asleep at night, but which sees her lie in an exhausted sleep in the morning- only to have to rise and start the day when all her body needs is rest! She is particularly grumpy and strident, but mention overwork or quitting and the heckles rise... you are standing on very shaky ground when you try to debunk the Feminist Claptrap Dream!

Still another mother in our family is striving not only in work, but in her personal life and her childrens' lives. She totally believes she not only *can* have it all... but believes that it is her *right*. But she is paying a high price too. Perfect wife, mother, housekeeper, worker, social butterfly and off campus student, she looks the embodiment of the fakeness of The Lie. However, unable to swallow because of a feeling of a lump in the throat, she was diagnosed with a case of globulus hystericus... nerves. My gentle suggestion to delegate jobs in the family, and forgo a few extra classes for the children was like a red rag to a bull.... warning... warning... danger! The Dream must be kept alive, even if the mothers aren't.

It is such a sad state of affairs... and there seems no end to it all... For every woman who falls by the wayside in the attainment of All, there are a hundred following in hot pursuit, stepping over her as they stampede forward to the Goal, which is never *enough* when you think about it.Sadly, I realise that they *can* have it All.... but along with it comes divorce, depression, anxiety, split families and all that negativity does to your health....

The feminists have given our young mothers dust for dreams! God planned for us to have an abundant and relatively peaceful life as wives and mothers, but typically, the Evil One has used his messengers to pervert that which was originally perfect.We aren't supposed to have it all.... just those things that are priceless: our health, our marriage, our children, our home and our peace! We can rest content without reaching for the stars! 

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Luke 12:34