Friday, April 11, 2008

Jennifer Bycroft, M.H.D. (Motherhood Degree)


A while back, after my girls' evening baths, I noticed I needed to trim Rachel's bangs. They were getting to the point where she was having a hard time seeing out her pretty blue eyes, so I let her know that I needed to cut them.

After hearing this, our oldest daughter Macayla, asked me, "Mommy, why don't you ever cut my hair...why does Susan always do it?" I told her because she didn't have bangs and Susan (our hair dresser) does a much better job cutting her hair. I explained to her that Susan went to school for that reason. Macayla then asked, "Did you go to school to be a mommy?"

I kinda chuckled, and I can't even remember exactly how I answered her, but if it took me 3 colleges and only 1 degree to "be a mommy", then to be real honest...I'm okay with that. I'm not so sure my parents that flipped the bill for those 3 colleges would totally agree with that though! Just kidding...they adore my girls.

With both of my girls being in school nowadays, I have been asked several times by other women, "Soooo, what do you do while the girls are in school all day?" Over the years, I've been asked, "Where did you go to college?" I want to answer, "Which year?" And when I tell them I have a degree from Ozark Christian College, they then ask, "So are you a minister too...could you preach?" To that, I want to say, "We are all ministers...and yes, if you want to hear me preach, just come over to my house as I'm lecturing my kids!" (Are you kidding...no way do I want to preach...women preachers? Scary!) People have wanted to know if I've ever had the desire to go out and get a full-time job, especially now that my girls are in school. My answer, "No, not really. I have a full-time job...being a helpmate to my husband in ministry and being there for my girls."

For those of you that have "other" jobs besides being a mom, outside of the home that is, please know I am not faulting you. This is just where God has me right now. And I'm okay with that.
So to answer my daughter's question of wondering if I went to college to be a mom...........yeah, I guess I did.

Macayla and Rachel...I love you with everything that I have. You make my job enjoyable............. most days!!! :)


By the way, for those of you "stay-at-home moms", you know how L-O-N-G the days can be! If you've never heard the song by Steven Curtis Chapman called, "One Heartbeat At A Time", I recommend listening to it. It is a very encouraging song that talks about how we may not see how we are making any kind of difference right now, but we really are. Just to give you a little bit of what it's about, here's the chorus:

"That you, you are changing the world one little heartbeat at a time,
Making history with every touch and every smile,
Oh you, you may not see it now but I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world one little heartbeat at a time."

I don't know about you, but that's encouraging to me. Check it out when you get the chance!

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In my favorite sport, tennis, it really is helpful to have a good serve. It could help you in winning more games. In the same way, life is a lot like that. We need to do our best in "serving" others. Jesus didn't come to be served, but to serve. There are many ways to do this. Just maybe, in our service, God will use us "to win one more" for Him...