Diaper Changer, World Changer

“Maaaaamaa! Can you help me?”
“Mama, I’m hungry.”
“Mama? I hold you??”
“Mama! Maaaaama. Mama?”

Some days I feel like I’m drowning in the “Mamas”.
Mama, the diaper changer.
Mama, the orange juice pourer.
Mama, the crumb cleaner.
Mama, the homework checker.
And some days, I wonder just what those little tasks really add up to?

OF COURSE motherhood matters. We know that these menial tasks and our loving care are working beautifully together over time to shape our small children into kind and decent humans. We know that it’s worthwhile because our children are worthwhile. But what happens when our heart aches to do more? What happens when the laundry we fold and the boo-boos we kiss don’t seem to make an impact beyond our own front door?

I can’t watch the news, or even follow the news on social media, without seeing the complete turmoil our world is in. People are broken and hurting. The world is broken and hurting, and it’s heart breaking. I’m a self starter. A do-er and a fixer, and seeing that brokenness and hurt? It makes me want start doing and fixing. As lofty as it may sound, I want to change the world – or at least my little corner of it. And sometimes tending to tiny hearts and matching up tiny socks just seems to get in the way of all of the good I want to do out there.

Recently, I was considering how I could make more of an impact. “Maybe I can still do all the things!” I thought. “Why don’t I just take the kids with me to volunteer?!” But the reality is, bringing my own 3 kids ages 5 and under to the grocery store is about as much as I can handle. I feel maxed out just caring for my own family most of the time. Still, I want to do SOMETHING…but what? And then I stopped to think about just what it is that I am actually hoping to achieve?

I want to help those that can’t help themselves.
I want to feed the hungry.
I want to take care of hearts, and show others that they are loved.

But my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of tiny feet coming down the stairs, accompanied by a “Mama, can you help me?”

So I helped. And I fed. And I loved. And I realized, I am doing everything I had hoped to.  Mamas aren’t just diaper changers, we are world changers. In the (sometimes) quiet nurseries and messy kitchens of our homes, we are helping the helpless. We are feeding the hangry – er – hungry. We are taking care of little hearts and showing our tiny humans how to love.

And if that’s the only impact we have during “the little years”, then that’s enough. Our little people are going to grow into big people and THAT is when the work we are doing now changes the world. I look at the faces of my babies and know that in 18 years, there will be three more adults in the world with good hearts and kind spirits helping and caring and loving countless other souls.

We are mothers of littles for just a season. The opportunities we have to serve and love and give will change just as seasons do, and the work we do in one season may not bear fruit until another. So for now, I’ll strive to do what I can for the greater good outside of our home, but I won’t for a second discount the purpose of the work I’m doing within its walls. This is the work no one sees, friends, but it’s important – SO important. You’re not just changing diapers, Mama. You are changing the world.

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Becky Walker
I fell in love with my husband, Dustin, when I was a wide eyed 15 year old. I have been a mostly loving wife since June 5, 2010, and a mom since February 16, 2012. I live right by Tinker AFB, and I have three little ones- Lyla, 6, Karrick, 2, and our bonus baby Juliet, almost 1 year old! Along with serving as Community Engagement Manager for OKCMB, I work part time from the closet under our stairs teaching English to Chinese students early in the morning! The most relaxing part of my day is when I drink my whole cup of coffee -HOT- while it’s still dark, and the rest of my house is still and quiet. During the day, the kids and I are out and about, exploring the city and avoiding the laundry. I do my very best to run a happy and healthy household for my husband and the little people God has entrusted to me.

2 COMMENTS

  1. I have always thought that people like you and Jennifer Rankin, and Anna Tew should have as many kids as possible because you are raising good people who will make a difference in the world. And then you’ll have the time you want to take up whatever cause you want – maybe with your super loved and raised children. You are the good influence you are now partially because your mom influenced you to be so. Don’t think for one second you are not changing the world.

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