I am thankful for being a stay-at-home mom.
This is a recent photo of me with our two beautiful girls.
(Photograph by Falco Photography.)
When Mickey and I were newlyweds, we already knew that when we started a family, we would love for me to be able to stay home. At the time, we were DINKs – you know, Dual-Income-No-Kids, and we couldn’t see how we’d ever do without my income. It’s not that I was rolling in the dough, by any means, but it was just a matter of us being accustomed to having both paychecks coming in on schedule. The way it was back then was that we each got paid every other week, but were on alternating pay schedules, so we had money hitting the bank every Friday. For a young couple that was basically living paycheck to paycheck that was a nice set-up. So, basically, we had tucked the idea and dream of me being a stay-at-home mom away for safe-keeping at that time. We had not given up on the idea, but we couldn’t see a way to make it practical for our needs.
In the late summer of 2001, we moved to Dothan, AL. Mickey had wanted to find a job in youth ministry and an opportunity opened up for him there. He was hired as assistant youth director and web guy for a church in Dothan. So, we turned in our notices at our jobs in Atlanta, left our new (to us) condo, sold his Mustang GT and moved south. When we moved, we assumed I’d get a job down there once we got settled into our new place. Well, guess what? Two blue lines came up on a test before I could ever even get a job offer. I had one interview at a hospital, but then I didn’t hear back from them for awhile and later found out that the lady that interviewed me had some sort of family or health emergency. Anyway, here we were brand new to that area, carrying a mortgage in Atlanta and rent in Dothan and we found out we were expecting our first miracle. We decided to buckle down on finances and if I found a job, that was fine, but otherwise we would do our best. I was offered a temporary position filling in for a lady that was going on maternity leave herself. This was about halfway through my pregnancy. When she came back, the job dried up for me. Rather than be stressed about it, we came to realize that this seemed to be God’s way of showing us that we could, in fact, make it and I could stay home with the baby. It wasn’t always easy, I have to say. There were sacrifices to be made and we didn’t have a lot of margin, so to speak, but, we made it. And, I still feel blessed to be at home today.
I see now how God used our move to open various opportunities for our family. I really think that if we had stayed in the Atlanta area, we wouldn’t have seen a way for us to give up my paychecks every other week. With us moving to Alabama for two years, we learned that we could, in fact, get by and I could stay home. I have to say that it’s been an incredible blessing for our family. I am so grateful to be home with the girls. Now that they are older, I do work part time as a substitute teacher, but even that allows me to be on their schedule.
I know that being a stay at home parent isn’t for everyone. I certainly have a lot of respect for moms (and dads) that work outside the home. So, please don’t ever think I am speaking against that because I am not. I think every family has to do what works for them and I respect doing what works for your own family. For us, having me home has been an answer to many lifted prayers and I could not be more thankful for my favorite full time job.
Blessings,
Kelly