When Motherhood Goes Unnoticed
My three-year-old daughter lives in an Elsa dress a friend of ours found at a rummage sale for $2.00. It is her most prized possession, and she often needs quite a bit of persuasion to change out of it.
One day, she was wearing this dress while I was folding laundry in our room. She had stationed herself at my keyboard and was happily playing whatever combination of notes her hands found. I noticed her dress was getting caught on the stool, but I was taken aback when she calmly turned around and said, “Mama, I need to change into comfy clothes before I get frustrated with my dress.”
Two years. Every day for two years. That’s how long I had been working with her to handle frustrating situations. Two years of meltdowns over nothing. Two years of seemingly minor inconveniences that would instantly turn my daughter into a puddle of tears. Endless strings of days where it seemed the efforts I put in were pointless.
And here we were. My daughter hopped down from the stool, went to her closet to pick out new clothes, and happily returned to banging the keys on my keyboard. I sat there in stunned silence, trying not to cry. Granted, about twenty minutes later, a drop of water spilled from her cup, and her world ended, so my work is far from done. But this simple, beautiful moment was an answer to desperate prayers I had been offering for years.
While my husband shared my excitement when I retold the story to him, I quickly realized that no one else had the same reaction. No one else could see how extraordinary this moment was because, to most, it just looked like a kid wanting to change outfits. So this monumental moment—where I could finally see growth from years of seemingly pointless work—was brushed off.
This experience is not unique in motherhood. We wear countless hats throughout our days, but the world only sees our mom buns and sweatpants. We spend years working on discipline with our children, only for the world to bear witness to an epic public meltdown. We do mountains of laundry, wipe up accidental spills, and sweep endless crumbs from under the table, only for neighbors to come over and see the most recent explosion of toys scattered across our home. We get to the end of a long day, happy with the work we’ve done, only to see the work of others on our social media feeds overshadow any sense of accomplishment we held.
Our motherhood often goes unnoticed, and we can easily believe the lie that the work of it all isn’t worthy. There are seasons where our faithfulness seems fruitless, our efforts never enough. There is no actual “mom-of-the-year” award, but we all long for it and constantly feel like we fall short. Our hearts are weary, and no one seems to care.
But Scripture offers a different perspective and a greater hope than any outward praise and recognition can offer.
Throughout Scripture, we see names like Moses, Samuel, and Timothy shine. We see how mightily God used them and read their stories with awe. It is easy to read the four books dedicated to God's work through Moses’ life and forget the ten verses dedicated to Moses’ mom.[1] The twenty-five chapters devoted to Samuel’s faithfulness and the two chapters providing a relatable glimpse into his mother, Hannah’s, life.[2] Or the two letters Paul wrote to Timothy alongside the single verse that boasted of the faith of his mother and grandmother.[3]
Regardless of the amount of real estate given to these mothers in Scripture, their work was instrumental. God used Jochebed’s courage and faithfulness to provide a deliverer for his people. God heard Hannah's constant, desperate prayers and answered by giving a devoted prophet to Israel. God saw the years of Lois and Eunice’s faithful, unmentioned work and used them to instill Timothy’s zeal for the gospel.
The world may not notice the work you are doing in your season of motherhood, but God most certainly does. The world may look past the sleepless nights, the early mornings, and the long days that you push through, but God sees them. The world may not realize the struggle you face every day, wondering if your work is worth it, but God is not oblivious.
The God of the universe sees you. He is the one who brought you into this season of life, and he has not left you to figure it out on your own. Instead, he is faithful “to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8, CSB). And momma, every moment of your motherhood is good work.
The daily grind of motherhood is meant to glorify God and God alone. Each moment we faithfully attend to the work he has given us, we image Christ. Every time we bear the fruit of joy in the mundane, patience in the tantrums, and self-control in the most trying times, we reflect our heavenly Father.[4]
So, rejoice when you see the fruit of the work of discipline. Change that unexpected blowout with love and grace. Clean up the house even if it’s a disaster again, only thirty minutes later. The world may not recognize it, and you certainly may not feel it, but God has called you to this season for his glory and your good.[5] So do “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9).
[1] Exodus 2:1-10
[2] 1 Samuel 1-2:10
[3] 2 Timothy 1:5
[4] Galatians 5:22-23
[5] Romans 8:28; 1 Corinthians 10:31
