...it's how you do it, that you do it and the heart that you put into the job at hand.
Before moving to Houston I never felt poorly because of our family decision that keeps me working at home and Matt working outside of the house. And i still don't feel poorly...I just need to vent! Staying at home works well for us and there is no way I could not not be at home with Gabriel full time. Not only are there 4 therapy appointments a week and lots of work to do at home, I just can't imagine not seeing all of Gabe's firsts, not shepherding his heart day in and out. This is what works for our family and I respect other peoples decisions about what works best for their family and encourage people to do what's best for their situation.
That being said, in Ohio, there doesn't seem to be a stigma about being a SAHM. Up north, my friends are probably divided evenly between SAHM, work-outside-the-home moms and work-outside-the-home-part time moms. But here in Houston, it's the complete opposite; from church to the therapy office I have felt the cold shoulder and disdain filled looks when people ask what I do for a living. Most of the women I've met work outside the home at least part of the time... and the women that do stay at home, seem almost embarrassed to admit that they are a SAHM. I hate that we as women (and I'm sure men as well), feel so defined by what their ressumee says, that we forget about what's important.
Recently I read an excerpt of The Indwelling of Christ. In it Major Ian Thomas wrote "It is not the nature of what you do that determines the spirituality of any action but the origin of what you do." And while I know many professions don't scream loudly 'spiritual work', it really doesn't matter what you do... accountant, mechanic, CEO, nurse, waitress, teacher or even SAHM... it's the heart of you work that matters. It's that you do your job with love that's important, not what your job title reads.
This has been on my mind for awhile.. thanks for listening [smile].
3 comments:
Amen daughter! That is why I chose to stay at home and raise the children God entrusted to us. It worked for us; yes you kids did without the most popular toy, but had what you needed. To be able to experience all the firsts is just such a blessing.
I know how you feel. When we lived in SC, all the women except one at our church quit their careers to stay home with their children. I went from that, to a town in AL where in a church of 250 there was only one other SAHM. To top it off, 90% of the working women at the church were school teachers. And we homeschool. Talk about not fitting in and getting the cold shoulder. I am an RN and do have to work a few days each month to keep up with our adoption bills, but that wasn't enough. The first year we lived here, all the time people from church kept coming up to me telling me about fulltime RN positions they thought I should apply for. I kept telling them that I didn't want to work fulltime. They just couldn't understand why. I am so blessed to be home with my kids each day.
Again, I want to come live with you. Then You can have a SAHMamma friend in TX and I can actually SAH. I'll start packing (In my dreams anyway(
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