My New Job!

Well, I decided to be a stay-at-home mom again last week, and it feels great!!! I really don't even know where to start with this besides the fact that I have wanted to be home with my girls while they are so young for a long time now.

Most people know that I stayed home with Ava the first 15 months of her life, and it was the most wonderful job I have ever had. I felt like I was really where God wanted me to be at that point in my life. However, financial reasons forced me back to work in August of last year. Let me just say that Keith and I are very good with managing our money and saving. We are frugal. We don't have a house payment (we live in a parsonage) and no credit cards. The only debt we have is my vehicle. We just came to a point where it was necessary for me to go back to work. We were just spending a little more than we were bringing in.

I was ok with going back to work at first. However, I quickly got to the point to where I just wanted to be with Ava and felt like that's where I should be. However, money was still not working out.

In December, I found out I was pregnant with Kate Rivers. This added to my longing to be home with my children. I was SO worried that I would wish I had stayed home with Kate Rivers her first year of life when I got older. Keith and I sat down numerous times and looked at our budget. Even cutting back to the bare minimum, the numbers still weren't adding up. However, we figured out the amount we would need in order for me to be able to stay home. I could make this much money working at a half day preschool or a Mother's Morning out. That wasn't an option, though, because of the time Kate Rivers would be born.

I was devastated that I was going to have to teach Kate Rivers' first year of life. I knew she was going to change so much, and I would miss out on a lot of that...my job is not one that I can leave at school. I HAVE to bring work home in order to keep my head even halfway above the water. There is not time at school to get this done so I must bring it home. Also, I felt bad leaving my children in daycare all day everyday, especially when I ended up working a lot of 10-12 hours day. It is MY job to raise my children, and their parents should be the ones to spend the most time with them while they are so young. Also, God can find another great teacher for my students, but there will NEVER be another mother for my own children. This is the only shot that I get at being their mother, and my priorities were just all out of order while I was working. I had hardly any time to spend with them even when I was home because I was bringing soooo much work home with me.

Now, if you must work, or even if you feel called to be a working mom, that is fine with me, and I have no problem with that. That's great that you are doing what God is calling you to do. I just felt like I needed to do what is best for me and MY family. Every family is different, but I just knew with all of my heart that I was supposed to be home at this season in my life--without a doubt.

Like I said, I was just really upset about having to work this year, but I was trying to find a way to stay home next year, or at least find something part time. I was just going to enjoy my maternity leave to the fullest and tough it out for the rest of the year. However, I got to thinking how old Ava and Kate Rivers would be in May (9 months and 3) and how much I would have missed out on (because I would always be counting down to the next holiday or summer break).

I actually went back to school last week. We found out Monday morning that Keith got a pretty big raise. The amount of money we will get paid each month is almost the exact amount we had figured we would need to come out ahead at the end of the month...wow! After coming home home a few days completely stressed, I talked to my principal Wednesday afternoon. I just told her how I was stressed out, and I told her about Keith's raise, and how I probably would have stayed home this year if I knew he was getting the raise. She then asked me if I was trying to tell her that I wanted to stay home, and I told her that I really did feel like I was being called to be home right now and be a full-time mom. She told me that would be fine as long as she could find another teacher. The next day, she came to my room and told me she had found someone. The lady she found had just finished a maternity leave teaching a 5th grade class at our school for a friend of mine who had just had a baby. Our principal went ahead and hired this lady after the maternity leave to tutor students, but she really wanted to be in the classroom. My principal offered her my classroom job, and she was so happy and excited to take it.

I just all worked out. First, I was soooo thankful that my principal was so understanding my wishes to be home at this time. Second, it worked out well with the teacher who took my place. She stayed home with her children for 13 years, but she decided last May that she was ready to get back in the classroom. She came and talked to my principal at the end of May, but unfortunately by then, my principal did not have any positions available. However, it worked out for her to do the maternity leave for Mandy. Something DID come available at the end of the summer, but this teacher couldn't take that position because she was already committed to the maternity leave position. The timing worked out perfectly for her because she was able to take my position after the maternity leave position. Last, the fact that Keith got the raise he did was just perfect. People just don't get raises like that right now. We thought that if he got anything, it would be a lot less than what he did. It just amazes me that it was just the right amount for me to stay home.

I felt God calling me to stay home a long time ago, but being the planner that I am, I was just too afraid to let go and trust Him and have faith in Him that He would work it out. It just shows that if God has a plan for you, He will take care of it, and He will come through and work it out for you. I have honestly never been so sure that God has called me to do something as I do about this, and it just feels awesome that I am able to live out my dream!

Let me say, though, that I am VERY thankful that I had the job I did. I know that I was very blessed to even have a job. There are so many people who are not able to find jobs, and I am thankful that I was. I just felt that at this point in my life, my calling is to be home with my children full-time. I hope anyone reading this will not think that I was unappreciative of my job because I was. Thanks in advance for understanding this! :)

It has been a long road to get to this point, but I am so thankful that it worked out. I am so looking forward to this new exciting chapter in my life! :)