YES! YES! YES!
Mothers are the heart of the family. In an effort to destroy the family and bring about the collapse of society, Satan is doing everything he can to keep mothers from staying home. Don’t believe his lies.
You can stay home. You can take care of your family. You can!
(If you are a single mother, my heart goes out to you. What I am saying probably does not apply to you right now. But hopefully the tips we share on this blog will help you to be able to save money, maybe even work less, and spend more time with your children.)
Before we get too far into this discussion, I need to make a disclaimer: I am currently a working mother. I have been a stay at home mom (SAHM) for 14 years, but began working last fall. My husband recently went back to school, and at this particular time in our life it made more sense for me to work than for him to try and do work and school at the same time. So I currently work and my husband is a full time stay at home dad. I work in my children’s school district, so my hours coincide with their school schedule, and my husband (who goes to school on weekends) is home full time to be with our youngest child, who is not in school yet. Now that I’ve spent some time in the working world, I can see how alluring it is. I get a lot of praise and recognition here. It is very satisfying. I help people. I matter. Our plan has always been for me to quit as soon as my husband graduates and gets a job. Before I began working I thought that would be easy. I can see now it will be very hard. I like being around intelligent adults. I like the praise. I like earning money. I like that my husband cooks and cleans more than ever! But I know in my heart that my talents and energy were meant for my children. So when the time comes for my husband to go back to work, I will be heading back home.
I know some of you are working right now. I know some of you are SAHMs and feel like maybe you need to work to contribute more to your family. I am talking to you.
True happiness comes through Christ-like service and sacrifice. And where better to experience that than in the home? There is, however, a lie being perpetuated in many, even most, households today.
The lie is this: It is just too expensive these days to live on only one income.
The number of working moms seems to confirm that it must be so. Prices are rising on everything. More and more families are living in what the government deems as poverty. And no one is sitting at home thinking, “You know, we have twice as much money as we need. How about one of us quits their job."
The magic of this lie is that it sets up a false dilemma. You likely can not give up your second income and continue to live your current lifestyle. But what you CAN do is give up your second income and CHANGE your current lifestyle. Although every television advertiser will tell you differently, lifestyle doesn’t equal happiness. Advertisers want your money, so of course they want you to go out and make more of it to spend. Your Father in Heaven wants your happiness, and he is asking you to stay home and care for your children. Whose advice do you want to take?
If you are going to live on one income, you are going to have to live differently than everyone else. Is that such a bad thing? In an overscheduled and ultra materialistic world cutting back can be a very good thing. Prioritize. Find out what really matters to your family, and then make a plan to make it happen.
There are a million ways to make this possible. I can’t address them all in one post. We will be discussing them, one at a time, in the future. But the main idea I want to convey today is that it CAN happen. IT IS POSSIBLE. Once you open yourself up to the idea that you can be a one income family, your mind will begin finding solutions for you.
“For I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” 1 Nephi 3:7.
You can do it! I believe in you!
Marcia
No comments:
Post a Comment