It Started With Me Continued

So, God made it possible (and necessary!) for me to quit work. We knew we had enough money in savings to make it for a while. I made a little money babysitting and proceeded to find out what it was like to be a "stay at home mom" for the first time.

I just KNEW that there was no way someone who got to stay home could possibly ever have stress! How could you? I woke up every day for the first few weeks saying to myself, "You mean ALL I have to do is wash the dishes and do the laundry?" It just seemed so easy to me--well, maybe simple is a better word. I went from leaving the house at 6:30 every morning and returning at 4:30 or 5:00 in the afternoon where I had more work to do for my job as well as household work to simply taking care of my family. I didn't have to get dressed up, make-up was optional, if there were errands to do or calls to make I could do that. If one of the kids was sick--no problem. I didn't have to worry about calling in. It was all so wonderful. I could continue to nurse my younger daughter who was 9 months old at the time and no more leaving my kids with someone else! Life was good.

But guess what? There was stress. And it was all financial. I watched our savings being eaten away as we tried to be as frugal as possible. I literally freaked out when it came time to pay bills. The kids got sick all the time and each trip to the dr. cost money. I taught Bible class during this time and very plainly explained to the little ones that the Bible says not to worry about what we will eat or drink or wear. He takes care of the birds and the flowers. He will take care of us. They accepted that as fact. Why couldn't I? (to be continued)