We have a friend who would like to homeschool his children. The difficulty is that he will have to do it himself after working all day, because his wife refuses to stay home and take care of their children. Why? She says, “it’s not my thing.”

It’s not my “thing,” either. I am not a natural/instinctive mama. I never “knew” why Ariel was crying; I just had to go down the list, trying everything until something worked. I don’t do this because I’m so good at it. It would be much, much easier for me to let someone else take care of Ariel, and go out and get a job at which I can excel. (When I worked outside the home, before I was married, I was always very good at whatever I did.) It would be easier, but it wouldn’t be right.

Do we refuse to read our Bibles because it’s “not our thing”? Do we avoid praying because it’s “not our thing”? Why, then, do we allow someone else to raise our children because raising them ourselves is “not our thing”? Because we have convinced ourselves that raising our children is not something God requires of us.

Ladies, God has clearly required us to abide at home and raise our own children. Titus 2:4-5 tells us that we are love (that is, do what is best for) our children. It also tells us that we are to be homemakers. 1 Timothy tells us that one of the marks of a godly older woman is that she has raised children. (Other things for which she is commended are also home-based areas of ministry.) Deuteronomy 6:6-9, Deuteronomy 11:18-21, Psalm 78:1-8, and Ephesians 6:1-4 (along with other passages) make clear that we, as parents, are responsible for bringing up and teaching our own children.

We cannot continue making excuses for disobeying God. We must renew our minds by the Word of God and allow that renewal to transform our lives.

I do not take care of my daughter because it’s “my thing”; I take care of her because I love her, because I love God, and because it’s important.