There have been times in my marriage where I've worked part or full time outside my home and while I can do it for a short amount of time, the unease I feel of spending so much time away from home eventually catches up to me in the form of depression, anxiety and even illness.
Something is sacrificed when a woman works outside the home. Much has been written about the working woman--how she CAN have it all if there is balance in her life, if her husband helps with household chores and if adequate childcare can be found. I found that despite having a supportive husband and wonderful children, my ideals for my home soon went out the window in lieu of a paycheck and a job title.
Rather than laundry being a joy to me, it became a dreaded obligation done late at night so that we'd have something to wear the next day. Mealtimes became hurried and mundane. My children's behavior changed in subtle, but worrisome, ways. No longer was I a "keeper at home" but a miserable working woman who occasionally interacted with her family.
I read a statistic that only 24% of American women claim to be fulltime homemakers. Our society has made it terribly difficult to live on one income and I thank feminism and materialism for that. Stay-at-home mothers are pitied or condemned for not using their minds and talents in the workforce. One income households, except in unusual situations, barely qualify for the label "middle-income" and often sit just above or at the poverty level.
When I chose to return home, it was with the understanding that sacrifices would have to be made in giving up my income. I would need to be creative and resourceful with our finances. Even with creativity and resourcefulness, truly our hope only lies in the Lord's promise of provision:
Matthew 6:32, "(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."
Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
Deuteronomy 8:18, "But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day."
Psalms 84:11, "For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."
Deuteronomy 28:5, 11-12, "Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store... And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow."
1 John 5:14-15, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."
John 16:24, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."
James 4:2, "...yet ye have not, because ye ask not."
Matthew 6:8, "Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."
Romans 8:32, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"
James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
1 Timothy 6:17, "...God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy."
Psalms 37:4-5, "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass."
Genesis 45:18, "And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land."
Ezra 9:12, "Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever."
Isaiah 1:19, "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:"
Genesis 45:20, "Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours."
Deuteronomy 8:7, "For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;"
Deuteronomy 30:9, "And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:"
Luke 12:28, "If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?"
The Lord is not quiet on the subject of caring for those who love Him and I cling to these promises when my human perspective threatens to send me into a fit of fear.
I am a Homemaker. I am responsible for our home. I am my husband's helpmeet and my children's mother. I praise God for the fulfillment I experience when I take my calling seriously and offer my day to Him. I have found through experience that there's no better way to live.
John 10:10, "...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
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