Linda Hirshman, I have something to say to you.

I just read the above article about a horribly insulting and dismally ignorant feminist who was featured on ABC's Good Morning America for two days. She had the audacity to say that women should not be allowed to choose to stay home because it is bad for society and bad for the cause of women's equality. Now, my first response to this is laughter...she can't be serious. But knowing that she is serious, and apparently at least some agree with her, I am grieved.

She mentioned that she did a lot of research by reading the blogs of homemakers, so, just in case you come across this one, Linda, I have some things to say to you.

First, so you don't write me off as some country bumpkin, let me introduce myself. I have a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where I graduated with a 3.95 GPA. I am from the Phillips Exeter Academy class of 1999, where I graduated among the top 15 in my class. I have worked for NASA, in Houston.

Now...to one of your points. You stated that, in choosing to stay home with children, women put themselves into a position usually reserved for the lowest classes in society, that of cleaning up excrement. You also said that the duties of keeping a home and raising small children "does not sound particularly interesting or fulfilling for a complicated person, for a complicated, educated person."

Well, I do have to admit that I don't enjoy changing diapers, but I do it for love of my children. Mothers are called to, many times a day, mortify their own desires for the sake of those they love. Far from being demeaning, such self-sacrifice is noble and elevating. We all start life as self-centered infants and toddlers, concerned only with our own needs and comfort. Self-sacrifice marks how far we have moved from such beginnings towards responsibility and adulthood.

Self-sacrifice defined the ministry of Jesus Christ, and thus, the life and work of a mother is the most Christ-like in the world. He gave up the riches of his life in heaven and humiliated himself to live amongst men and then to be sent to a gruesome and painful death. He endured his Father's abandoment of him on the cross, that he might bear the full punishment for the sins of his people. As one saved, by the grace of God, I want to please him who created and redeemed me. He has called mothers to be "keepers at home" and to "raise children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord". When I am faithful, I feel His smile, and that is more fulfulling than anything else.

If mothers do not care for their own children, who should? According to your logic: those least educated and able. This is a shockingly arrogant statement. So, are you saying that daycare workers, teachers, nannies, and others who care for children are only in that position because they lack the ability and intelligence to do anything else? I do not agree with that statement, at all, but let's say, that it is true. That is all the more reason for a mother to care for her own children. I certainly don't want the least intelligent and least capable members of society responsible for the welfare of the most precious people in my life! There is no amount of money or power or intellectual stimulation that could tempt me to put them in danger. And there is real danger in taking small children away from their home. The first few years of a child's life are crucial to his intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. At home I can make sure that my babies are intellectually stimulated by playing with them and using appropriate books, video and toys that are designed to increase their mental power. At home I can supervise their social development by teaching them to share and be considerate of others when they play with siblings or with friends. In a daycare environment children learn to snatch toys and guard them against bullies. They have to be always vigilant against bullies and they have no mommy to watch them and tell them when they need to share and when they need to apologize. At home I can bolster my children's emotional development by providing a happy and secure place for them to live out their earliest years. My children are secure in my love; they know that I will not abandon them to another, just to please myself. I am there to soothe every hurt, to share every triumph, and sometimes just to give hugs. The world is a harsh place, and my children will be better prepared to handle it with hearts and memories full of love and encouragement. Anyone who has ever spent time with small children knows that what they want more than anything else is the love and attention of their mommies. At home I can guard the physical health of my children, by preparing them nutritious food and by making sure they exercise. Also, at home, they are not exposed to nearly so many of the diseases that run rampant through daycare. For all these reasons, and many more, it is best for my children for me to be a homemaker, and as I have already stated, I am willing and eager to provide my children with the best upbringing because I love them.

If you can't understand this, perhaps it is because you have never known the kind of love that moves one to sacrifice, and if this is the case, then I pity you. But even if you can't understand why mothers would be willing to make such a sacrifice, you should be glad that they do make it, for they are literally raising the future of this world. What mothers do now, in shaping the characters of their children, will have a far bigger impact on the future than any activism, political debate, books written, or laws changed because what we do today with voice or pen can, and probably will, be changed in the years to come by those who are now children.

Finally, even those who are not mothers should resist you because you wish to take away a woman's ability to choose to stay home. Are we slaves to be ordered to work in a cubicle against our will? And what are you saying about those women you supposedly seek to empower? Are they so stupid or self-deceived that they cannot make such a fundamental choice about lifestyle? What supreme arrogance to think that you know better than they what would make them happy and fulfilled!

Being home with my children, nurturing them, providing a haven for my husband, such things are deeply fulfilling to me. Aside from the joy of benefitting those that I love most in this world, their is much to challenge my intellect and creativity. Children change by the minute, and keeping them challenged requires study and preparation. Organizing a household schedule, making things run efficiently, and keeping us within budget, are real challenges. But better than working in a grey office building, I get to work near the smiling faces of my family and surrounding by the beautiful environment of my creating. Yes, folding laundry and scrubbing toilets is dull and repetitive, and often it seems as if the work is never-ending, but the love of Christ sustains me, and I know that what I do is vital. I provide a place of peace and cheer, where children can learn and grow and where my husband, my children and I can live together, love each other, and work for the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom on earth. In short: I make a home.