October 15, 2009 11:04 AM
Mommy Patriots - a call to arms
It seems like everywhere I go these days, I'm meeting and hearing from moms who are waking up to the fact that they need to DO SOMETHING to stop the madness going on in our country and in our schools.
I'm finding that mothers who thought they were alone in their conservative values - who've been successfully intimidated by the liberal minority and the Tired Old Media (Uncle TOM) for years - are becoming willing to risk everything to make their voices heard.
Like the mom I met on the phone yesterday who'd invited one of my kids to a birthday party, or the new woman who joined the CCWL (Conservative Catholic Women of Loudoun) for our monthly lunch who'd moved to Leesburg some years ago and never connected with a like-minded mom. It was so touching to see how much it meant to her to find fellowship on every level as we shared for three hours.
In a moment of deja vu, I remembered the same sort of thing 40 - yes, 40! - years ago when I was part of the grassroots bubbling up of the Second Wave of feminism. (I have written in Reaching the Left from the Right: Talking About Social Issues with People Who Don't Think Like You
As we were talking about the current administration's nonstop attacks on our country's traditions and values, one mom said, "It makes me mad because I have had to become an expert on everything. I can't rest!"
And that's the truth, we can't. Our children's future is at stake.
And another mother said, "What should we do?"
And that's when I had this deja vu and realized we are all doing exactly what we need to be doing right now. We are talking. We are gathering. We are learning we're not alone.
Just as the Second Wave of feminism began with consciousness-raising groups where women met informally to share their experiences and their research - through this uniquely feminine and personal approach to encouragement and confidence-building - we are in the beginning stages of a revolution which Glenn Beck alluded to - which will be carried forward by the mothers of this country who have finally had enough.
As our numbers build, we will begin to feel less hopeless and more and more empowered. Just as in the homeschool movement, where through women's devotion to and sacrifice for their families their own individual potentials were released - resulting in the writing of books and creation of curriculum - individual women will be moved to write, to sing, to organize and to plan.
In this movement there is no room for or need for superstars. This is a movement where the good of all must triumph over any particular woman's selfishness or territorialism. As I noted on the Glenn Beck Show, we can use the analogy of the geese to cheer (honk) each other on.
One part of that analogy - as a viewer reminded me afterwards - was that the responsibility for being the Lead Goose shifts from time to time. This is so important, for when one individual covets the spotlight when it's time for another to speak, the entire group suffers. Be wary of leaders who seem territorial or in this only for themselves. Look for leaders who are willing to share and cooperate with others.
As mothers, our times for involvement will be cyclical, based on our families' needs. For followers of Jesus, they will also shift from time to time as we are guided by the Holy Spirit (I feel a shift myself right now, which I will be writing about soon.)
If you are a mom who is feeling a call to become more serious and purposeful about your family's future, I urge you to pray and be open to all the opportunities which will be presenting themselves to you each day to become more informed, more involved with your community and more willing to reveal who you really are to the other moms with whom you come in contact.
I will try to write encouragement to you each day and to recommend worthwhile resources as I come across them. I have started a Category Mommy Patriots where you will be able to find everything I write on this part of our lives. This is not about a particular politician, but about us and what we need to do to take back our country.
I want to urge you to try each day to become the best you can be. As Elisabeth Elliot has suggested we make a daily practice: Take one thing you should be doing and start doing it. Take one thing you shouldn't be doing and stop doing it.
As soldiers go to boot camp to become capable of doing the job in front of them, so must we be willing to put ourselves through spiritual boot camp, humbling ourselves about the places where we need to improve as moms and working harder to help our children reach their potential.
And we must also try a little harder to find each other and to make time to sit down and talk. This is an important part of how women find their individual voices and their collective strength.
This is a revolution that will take a generation to accomplish. But it is through what we teach our children - and with God's help - that it will be accomplished.
Stay balanced. Stay true. Stand firm in what your wisdom as a mother.
If this resonates with you, please pass this on through email, blogs and Facebook.
Posted in Mommy Patriots | Permalink
Comments
I love this piece! I'll post it on my blog later today! We can do this!
Posted by: Debbie Jansen | October 15, 2009 12:53 PM
Barbara,
In your meetings please share about the group Silent No More. I know you know of it from The March for Life. Woman need healing and abortion is such a scourge on woman. If a new feminsm is awakening we must heal the past.
Thanks
Posted by: Jane | October 15, 2009 2:20 PM
