Mother, come home...

I've finally found a few minutes to read some of the articles in this month's Ensign (Church Magazine.) They are always great to read, especially when you need a little "pick-me-up." One article in particular really hit home for me...and I highly recommend that you read it when you get the chance! (You can see the article here, if you don't subscribe to the magazine.)

The author writes about how she planned from the time she was a teenager to be the leader of a large corporation. She had planned her education and strengthened her resume to accomplish just that.

My mom had always taught me the importance of education, and I remember her saying that I needed to get my education first, because I'll always have it with me. Who knows what the future would bring with husbands, boyfriends, family, etc. But I'd always have a college degree to rely on in case I needed to. {I've always remembered that Mom - thanks! :)}

Back to the article, she says that while she was completing her graduate studies she found the person she was to marry, but she wanted to put kids on hold for a while because of her career. Of course that changed when she and her husband felt that it was time to have a child and start a family. In the middle of all of this, she was offered the job she had been preparing for her whole life. The money would have been incredible, the leadership opportunity was also incredible. But after discussing it with her husband and praying together, as hard as it was to do, she declined the job.

In the end, she finally came to the realization that she was supposed to stay home with her 5 children. It was much more important to raise them than to work outside their home. It was a sacrifice, both of her plans and money that she could have earned. She says it hasn't been easy, but Motherhood is worth it. I love her quote..."For this I went to college?" :)

This article hit me today - really hard. Here I am with a GORGEOUS son, who I love more than I can even describe and a FABULOUS husband who works so hard to provide for us who I'm more in love with every day. And, I'm home working to build a business that will eventually put an addition on our house - or just pay the bills right now! I do leave Ryan with friends a couple of hours during the week while I teach a couple of classes at New England Tech. But for the most part I am home.

Even when I was going to college, and working on my career, I always knew that I wanted to stay home with my kids. I've seen what a wonderful job my sister has done with her 6 kids, and I just can't see raising mine any other way. But there are times when I regret that I left my career with my almost 6-figure salary, especially on those days that I'm wondering if we'll make it to Ric's next paycheck because we have bills to pay (or bills that are late), and we're running out of diapers!

For this I went to college? Yes, it prepared me to manage my home, my Stamping Business, and life in general.

This article was a witness and confirmation to me that I'm in the right place. It's still hard, and it's still a sacrifice, but I'm doing the right thing. Because of that our family will be blessed, I'm sure of that!