Being a Mama and Embracing our Feminine Side

What is it to be a woman? What is natural for a woman, and what has become socially expected of women? There are many varying opinions, expectations, roles, and a whirlwind of emotions attached to being a woman. In the beginning, God saw that man needed something more. He had all he needed, he could do all the things, but something was missing. Man was not complete. A helper was needed perhaps but, more importantly, a companion that would love and nurture and bring meaning and bring forth life itself.

Humans are made to follow the rhythm of nature. The sun and the moon echo the duality of the masculine and feminine, and women naturally follow the moon’s monthly cycle. We carry both masculine and feminine energy; we just have to find that balance. We can’t reap the benefits of all we were created to be unless we learn to slow down, take time for ourselves, observe nature around us and its similarities, and truly look deep within ourselves and feel from the inside out.

Preparing the Next Generation of Women

My daughter is getting ever closer to the day of becoming a woman, and this has been weighing on my mind. I remember my friends and I feeling scared, confused, annoyed, and even resentment. Boys had it so easy we would say; it’s not fair. Coming into womanhood was dreaded on every level instead of embraced, all because it was not understood or even talked about. So I went through life fighting against my natural chemistry. 

Over the years, I have educated myself on these things and have learned to come to terms with all that comes with being a woman and how to incorporate a more balanced, healthy lifestyle. Since becoming a mother, I have learned to enjoy it all. It makes sense now. So I am trying to prepare my daughter for all the coming changes and to help her to be emotionally ready to transition in a positive way. We can show our daughters that it is not shameful; it is nature’s rhythm to show us we are ready to blossom.

Taking Care of our God Given Bodies

If we learn to take care of our bodies physically and emotionally, we should transition through the different stages with ease, without all the painful or difficult symptoms of PMS and menopause. These symptoms are actually not necessarily natural but are a sign that something is not right within.

Stress, a number one culprit, affects the flow of our energy on a cellular level, which affects the endocrine glands which produce and release hormones that affect our mental and physical state and our feminine health. We need to embrace who we are, who God created us to individually be, and find balance in life so we can avoid stress as much as possible. So how do we eliminate stress in a culture of a “go, go, go” mentality?

Society has gone from women staying home, raising the children, and minding the home to getting a career, holding a full time job while raising children, minding the home, juggling a social life, volunteering, working out, and somehow holding everything together. Yes, it’s called caffeine!

Looking back on when I started having my children, I was working shift work full time, and I honestly do not know how I did it. I was stressed, exhausted, I missed my babies, and my marriage was suffering. But I felt like I had something to prove, that society expected all this of me, and that women have to work extra hard to prove we are equal to men. I only worked for 1 year after having my second child and realized that something needed to change. This was not natural, and we made the decision as a family for me to stay home and raise my children. It was the best decision I ever made which led to homeschooling and time for my passions and hobbies. I fully understand that staying home is either not for every mother or not an option, but I would say if at all possible it is truly a blessing.

God Values Women

When God created woman, he wasn’t cruel with intentions for us to feel the need to compete with man for equality or to feel inferior or inadequate. Male and female is a natural balance, a harmony of equality, and in unity it is intended to bring forth new life. It is the woman that God blessed to carry that life in the womb and have a special bond with the child before it is even born. So we don’t have to prove ourselves through actions and over-scheduling and fixing things just to get to the next thing.

Doing too much affects our nerves and digestion, which affects the endocrine glands which produce and release hormones, which affect our mental and physical state and our feminine health. Women are run by hormones, and when not in balance because of body stress, we get negative side effects, like cravings, weight gain, mood swings, insomnia, exhaustion, ect. So we try to keep control and mask our symptoms with medications, pain killers, caffeine, and processed foods, and it becomes a vicious cycle.

We need to learn to slow down, understand how our bodies function best, what roles we are naturally meant to fulfill, and be present in every moment. Our spouse and children only expect us to be the gentle nurturer, not always the fixer. When we embrace who we are and take more time for ourselves, we are more ready to face each day and be grateful and joyful and make healthy choices.

Motherhood Is Important

Women should not feel guilty or ashamed to choose being a mom as a career. I remember getting looked at like I was some crazy person when asked what I do for a living and replied I am now a stay home mama. Despite what the commercialized world thinks, motherhood is a calling, a blessing from God, and an act of service above self and unconditional love. Again, some women are able to balance a career and motherhood and that is fantastic. Today there is much more variety of work to choose from, including being able to work from home, which has helped many.

How we approach our life has so many different outcomes. We can try to be superwoman, or we can be all we were called to be as a daughter of God. The key is balance and a focus on being present in moments with ourselves, our spouse, our children, and to not to be in a constant state of stress by living life in hyper drive. I hope that women can change the paradigms that society has categorized us in, and that our daughters will be empowered with knowledge instead of titles and achievements.

Written by Sandy Knudson

I am a homeschooling mother of two children from Alberta. We are currently full time RVers living a minimalist lifestyle. I keep busy with books and hobbies, mainly woodworking and pyrography, which I have been doing for a few years now. I enjoy a faith inspired life and look forward to what new inspirations the Lord has in store.