Well, here is my passion. I could go on and on about the calling to be a stay at home mom. I don't want to make anyone think that I think of myself as any better than a mom who has to or is called to work outside of her home. I realize the circumstances are different in every home. My passion is encouraging moms whose heart desires to come home, but the world has made her believe that they can't survive on a single income.
Now, I will grant you that our family has never had two incomes. I was in college working part time to get myself there until we had Mary Helen. Joel's income has always pretty much been what we had to live on. But, one day, I realized that I had a choice. I could spend whatever money was in our account on clothes from the mall, convenience food, and new toys until the money ran out; OR I could learn how to make our money stretch so that we could have all the things we needed and Joel and I could have dates, we could go to the zoo, and we could do other fun things. The day Joel and I sat down to look at where our money was going (he had been keeping up all along), I literally cried. I realized I had no idea what it meant to manage money. So, we talked and planned out a budget. And I got a coupon organizer used it to split cash into categories. I had grocery money, clothing money, dining out money, and a few other categories.
So, I had choices to make. I could buy one shirt from the mall, or I could buy several things from consignment stores or clearance racks. I could buy lots of convenience easy foods, or I could plan my meals and shopping list, buy less and have some new candles or lotion. I could take the girls to McDonalds a couple times a week, or Joel and I could have a nice dinner a couple times a month. It became a game to see how much money I could save and what great deals I could get to make our money stretch.
We also did the snowball effect to get out of all of our debt. We are not rich by any means, but God blessed us for our efforts. We are now in a home that we thought would never be attainable. I am home and not trapped. We now manage our money rather than our money managing us.
Now, if only I could figure out how to keep my house clean and laundry caught up!
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On another note, the Duggars have announced that they are expecting their 18th child! Wow! 18! There is so much controversy surrounding their decision to have such a large family, but I am so happy for them. They seem to be very happy and grounded in the Word. I'm not sure God would trust me with 18, but I will take as many as He gives. Now, if she can run a smooth house with all those kids, why is it so hard for me with 2? hmmmm....
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Well, Happy Mothers Day to moms everywhere!!
2 comments:
Hi Hadley! What an inspiring post for moms! I do work outside the home part time, but I have the utmost respect for moms that stay home. Both my parents and my hubby's are close by so they watch our children while I work. If it wasn't for that, I probably would have made a different choice.
I have several friends who have chosen to stay home, at least while their children are young, and have managed to make their budgts work. It actually seems to me like being a stay at home mom is coming back "into fashion" (if that's the proper term) and it's something I'm glad to see. Bravo to you!
And you know, I bet that the mom with 18 kids gets lots of help from her older children!
I loved your post about stay at home moms. I'm a big beleiver that if at all possible moms need to be home with their kids. Me and my husband don't live lavisly, and have a small but cute house, it's totally worth it. Kids grow up so fast, before you know it their grown up and gone. I was also lucky enough to have a mom that stayed at home. It was wonderful coming home from a rough day of school and having her there to greet me.
The family with 18 kids seems incredible. The kids seem happy and well taken care of. I wish them all the best with #18. Anyhow, I'm glad I ran across your blog, it's really cute.
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