It saddens me when I speak to women who feel that they are not contributing to their families or to society if they do not bring home a paycheck. Some believe their contribution needs to be measured monetarily to be of value. Others are nagged with guilt at the thought of their degrees growing dusty on a closet shelf somewhere, while they stay home packing lunches or potty training toddlers.

Too often people find their identity in their work. In other words, “I ain’t got no job, I ain’t got no paycheck, I ain’t nobody.” It has become uncool, unpopular, and definitely unsophisticated to be a mother who stays home and tends her brood. It is even more unpopular to be a wife who stays home to tend her husband when no children are in the picture.

To make matters worse, the money-saving activities of a wife and mother in a single income family are often shrouded by a hint of embarassment. You don’t hear a group of women at a business meeting exclaiming over the amazing deal they got on salad dressing on double coupon day at the market. Women don’t often brag about the time they spend clipping coupons, shopping thrift racks, patching clothes to maximize their wear, or donning store brand or homemade clothing. (Okay, I’ll brag about it, but that’s an eBook for another day!) Even though the thriftiness of a conscientious wife goes a long way toward enabling her husband to support the family, the woman frequently sees herself as not contributing financially to the family, and society will too often second that view.

Why is this? Why do women fall for the lure of the feminist movement that claims a woman needs to succeed in the same arena as a man in order to be successful. Why should her immeasurable worth be defined and therefore limited by a paycheck?

Imagine, for a moment, how blessed a husband can be by a wife who tends lovingly to his needs and makes wise use of the money he brings home. Imagine the mother who is always available to explore and play and bake cookies with her children? Imagine how much more successful that husband will be both in his career and at home, with a caring and supportive wife beside him. Imagine what a great contribution to society those confident and well-raised children will become because they had a mother who took the time to teach them that life does not revolve around pleasing themselves and their peers, but around serving each other. Imagine, from a financial aspect, how much farther that husband’s paycheck can go if there is a frugal and conscientious wife at home, making every penny of her man’s hard-earned money really count! Just imagine!

If you stay at home and tend your brood and your husband, do not undermine your contribution to society and to the kingdom of Christ! Your value cannot be measured in dollars and cents. Your worth is far above rubies!

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