Womanhood is Motherhood!

The the title of this post formely stated,
"Is Womanhood, motherhood?"
Coming from a point of prejudice, I wanted to believe that which I still do believe that, "To be a complete woman you don't have to have kids". But there was a point I didn't consider, motherhood is more than just getting pregnant, giving birth and raising those kids.

In every woman, is a mother. Whether with kids or not, we all have motherly instincts working in us since we got understanding.
Have you ever noticed how sometimes you just mother your friends. Hold them and take care of them when they are broken?
Motherhood has something to do with nurturing. Not necessarily giving birth which is still an amazing experience and a blessing at most.
While trying to look at womanhood from different people and different perspectives and on reading about motherhood and all that it implies I stumbled upon an article called, "I regret having children"

The post got me thinking about how womanhood is comparable to mothering a child, giving birth and raising kids, and that the society makes it that without kids you as a woman are incomplete. Of cause the trends seem to be changing with time but it is hard to change the way we think of womanhood. I believe it's more than giving birth and raising kids.

I am not a biological mother to a child myself, I like kids but I am not in a position to want some of my own, but having my own kids or not doesn't stop me from being a mother. Apart from being an aunty to two beautiful children, I have been a teacher of kids since I was twelve, and nurturing kids to become amazing adult is something I am passionate about, kids afterall are a gift.

The paragraph below is a comment to the post above. To me it opened my eyes to a whole new view on motherhood or at least did remind of an article I wrote a year ago about womanhood and motherhood. The comment reads;

"Thank you for publishing an article that explores how difficult motherhood is (“ ‘I regret having children,’ ” Society, February 2018). But the piece is misguided in its focus. We live in a society that sets up women for motherhood to be difficult. Mothers feeling regret is a symptom of a much larger problem. It takes a village to raise a child, but we don’t live in villages anymore. No single person can be an entire village, yet that is precisely what mothers are expected to be. The goal shouldn’t be to reduce sexism a little bit; it should be to eliminate it altogether, along with the economic pulls that demand more of our time and attention at work and less with family and friends, norms that isolate families and mothers, and with class structures that expect us to pay for services the village used to provide. And then there’s the stereotyping of men whereby we don’t teach boys emotional literacy or how to care for people and shared spaces. Regret is a form of self-blame. It is decidedly unhelpful. What is helpful is to turn our attention away from how we act in a troubled system and toward changing the set-up that makes motherhood so difficult, even for those who enter it after careful consideration. Imagine a world where becoming a mother didn’t require women to choose between home and career, didn’t strain marriages, didn’t isolate women—a world where “mother” isn’t the primary identifier of women with children. Parenthood isn’t just about parents. We’re all in this together."

Sarah Margles, Toronto

Sarah gave me two important points to think about,
1. It takes a village to raise a child, No single person can be an entire village.
2. Lets imagine and create a world where “mother” isn’t the primary identifier of women with children. Parenthood isn’t just about parents. We’re all in this together."

From a little girl to an old woman. We are called to nurture and care for the people around us from our siblings, when we are as young as five, to our friends in primary school to work places, to our neighbors and to the kids of our neighbors. Without ever neglecting street children or just a child with a home who we meet along the street. Like how a biological mother nurtures and loves her offspring. It is given into our hearts to love and nurture all the people around us.

A noble woman extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet.

A mother is a teacher, in both you and me is a gift to teach, instruct and discipline. Times have had us forget all the gifts within us. The gift of strength, dignity and wisdom as women. Fortunately today I'm going to remind you of who God created you to be, a symbol of strength and dignity. Some of us have made life mistakes and we have forgotten to pick up ourselves, forgive ourselves and put on back our dignity. Don't you ever let your past tell you that you cannot teach, instruct or discipline. Actually on the contrary, since you have been there you are the perfect candidate to tell the next person not to do what you did. And even if your record is impeccable, with no mistakes, which I doubt, you too can instruct others on the road to walk. (Take note, do not teach,  instruct or discipline  your husband, or older people but use wisdom to build them up)

A noble woman, Strength and honor (dignity) are her clothing. She shall rejoice in time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness.

A mother sustains and comfort, a mother is a friend. Have you ever had that one particular girlfriend you could just go to for anything and nothing. And just her soft touch, warm smile, engulfing hug, a teardrop for your trouble or just a word makes you feel warm, loved, cherished and accepted. Well that girl is a mother. And every woman, both you and me at our very best are that river that sustains a loved one in times of trouble. Woman open your heart. For in you is the ability to sustain. Just like how your body has a womb and through your umbilical cord, you can sustain an unborn baby. So does your soul have a womb and it can sustain the people around you who God has entrusted you to sustain and comfort.
For we are comforted so we can comfort.

The Protector, that is a mother! During a war out break it is mostly a woman who runs with the children and tries her best to protect them. Do you know that most women remain in marriages for the soul purpose of their children, just to make sure the kids have a great childhood and are well protected and taken care of, most of us will view that as crazy, but in it is the purest form of a woman for you, like a soldier in war zone, protecting the lives of his team comes first and foremost before saving his own.

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
John 15:13 NKJV

So is every woman called to be a protector.

A noble woman shall encompass (protect) a man (the foundation of the community, the leader of a household, and here let it stand for a community).

This is a lot to digest. Yes womanhood is motherhood. And motherhood is more than what we have been let on to believe.  Motherhood is being a nurturing force in the universe. It is bring out the best of potential that lies in people and society. Whether married or single, young or old, childless or child-full! We all are women, we all are mothers.