Transition From Work To Home-Part 2

Part 2-

Ask yourself these questions...

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not

lean on your own understanding. In all your ways

acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

Do you find it heart wrenching every time you have to leave your precious children in the care of someone else (sometimes a stranger) everyday as you leave for work? Do your children beg you to stay home and not leave? Do you cry all the way to work? Do you simply want to follow the teachings of the Lord and become a keeper of the home?

If you answered yes to any of these questions then you need to read this series. I decided before I had children that I wanted to be a SAHM. When career day would come around in high school people would ask me what I wanted to do for a living. The only thing that I could ever imagine was a mother. Oh, I had dreams and interests in other fields, such as medicine, but nothing ever felt as right as being a wife and mother.

After I got married I knew that I would have to plan in advance if I wanted to make my dream come true. Unfortunately the man I married did not understand my desire and expected that I would always work. I had to do a lot of praying for the Lord to change his heart. After the birth of our first child my husband had come around and I am now doing what I had always said I would do as a child.

So how did I get to where I am today? Planning and Prayer. I can not emphasize enough that you must plan ahead or you will most likely fail. The first thing you need to learn how to do is adjust to living on one income before you quit your job. Sit down with your spouse and plan out a budget using his income alone. For great information on budgeting visit Dave Ramsey's site on money management.

The second thing you need to do is set a realistic date to quit work. If you have a goal in mind you are more likely to reach it.

Next you need to build an emergency fund to cover anything that may happen that you will need to pay for once you actually quit work. I would also recommend using your current income to pay off debt. You are learning to live on just your husband's income alone so you should be able to put anything extra toward paying of debt. You want to make sure that you can have the least amount of bills possible for you husband's income to pay.

The last thing you need to do once you have come home is try to get into a routine. It is really easy to just let yourself become lazy and get nothing done. You will find yourself at lunch time still in your PJ's and the house a mess and your husband may stop in for lunch. He will wonder what you have been doing all day and if having you home is really going to work. You managed to keep up the house when you were working. You need to be able to do the same thing once you are at home. Your new "job" is to make sure that you spend time with God daily, then your husband, then children, and then the house. Find someone who has been a SAHM for awhile and get her advice.

Next Friday I will begin to go into each of these steps a little more in depth. Keep praying about your decision. God will provide a way if this is truly the desire of your heart.