My first week working from home is almost over.

It’s Friday, 9 a.m. I already have laundry washing, towels folded and put away, dishes done, kitchen floor scrubbed – not mopped, scrubbed – and the house vacuumed. There is still some more to do.

That was not part of my planned schedule but I have learned this week – well, not learned, but have accepted – I am able to write and think more clearly in the evenings. My days are better spent in my studies and building myself up in the Word. Being able to take care of household things during the day is just a bonus.

Yes, a bonus. I thanked God with a smile today as I scrubbed floors. For the first time in my life I was enjoying it. Our house has stayed a little cleaner this week. I really was beginning to wonder if we were just slobs.

We’re not. We are a household of two and those two people work. ALL. THE. TIME.

I have also broken my rule this morning of turning on the TV during the day. I’m pretty sure Jesus is still working on my house in Heaven.

I have been working since I was well able to. Took a summer babysitting job when I was 12 or 13. Prior to that my parents were the good kind of parents and we, kids, had responsibilities around the house. We had chores. We had to help.

We might not have liked it but it wasn’t asked of us, it was required. That is good parenting and as much as I may have hated it then, has helped shape the work ethic I have now. Parents, take note of that.

I worked randomly for my dad for a few side bucks when he had work available at that time and into my early teens.

As soon as I hit 16 I got a job as a grocery store cashier. Worked all through high school. I took the summer of `96 and spent it in Michigan with friends and used the money I had saved working to live off of. Came back and went straight back to work.

I graduated high school and I think I took that summer bumming around because I really had no idea what I was going to do with my life and wasn’t interested in life at the time anyways.

Bills called my name though and I started working again and have ever since. I had a year of college straight out of high school but, long story short, took a few years off. I went back when I was 24 and, already thrown into adulthood, I had to work and go to school.

It was rough but I made it. I wasn’t able to attend full-time because work paid the bills so it took me 7 years to get a 4-5 year degree. We couldn’t afford for me and my husband to be in school at the same time so once I graduated, he was signed up to start the next semester. He did the same as I did…worked and school. He worked 3^rd shift and went to school during the day.

Yes, there was lots of prayer during those years. When we met, it was just a couple of months before I started classes so our entire relationship, with the exception of the last two years, has evolved around one of us being in school.

We never took a honeymoon because we married on a Saturday and I had classes on Monday. We have had one full week vacation in the last 14 years. Yes, one week straight in 14 years. We have taken a few three-day weekends here and there but only a single full 7-day vacation.

We are tired. We are tired but we renew our strength in Him daily. I’ve never been to Universal or Disney. I really think that will be the next big vacation. I want to go to Harry Potter land so bad!

For two years during his schooling, I was able to attend In Christ International Bible College and obtain my Associate’s in Theology. God made a way.

Work has always been part of me. My parents worked hard. My mom stayed home and took care of us, me and two brothers, while my dad worked outside of the home.

I never once thought what my mom did wasn’t work. Taking care of a home is admirable. It’s not sitting on a couch eating bonbons. It’s running a business. It’s making sure things are in order. It’s selflessly taking care of other people and their mess.

I admire my mom for that. I never thought I could do that which is why I’ve always worked a job for someone else. I never pictured myself being at home but now it’s what my heart desires. I desire to work from home and put all of my efforts into my writing and the ministry my husband and I have been given.

With that, I get to take care of our home in a proper way. I’ve spent my entire adult years looking around at the messiness thinking I was lacking in that department. I assumed my husband got the short end of the stick when he married me.

This week I realized I haven’t been. I’ve done my best given the time frame and availability I’ve had to commit to it. I believed the lies of the enemy that I wasn’t “up to par” in that department and honestly, it has made me feel like less of a wife believing those lies.

This week, those lies have been revealed and I no longer believe them.

I have to clarify here that my husband has never once made the first remark about things not being in perfect condition around our house. NOT. ONE. SINGLE. TIME. He’s a good man. He pulls his weight. He washes dishes. He washes clothes. He picks up. He helps. We share the burden. He NEVER complains. Sometimes I think there is something wrong with him…

We have both worked, worked, worked though and it shows around the house. We basically have had a dwelling where we eat, sleep and shower. I want a home. A home.

I desire a home.

There is a difference between a house and a home.

My mom kept a home. She provided a home for all of us. My dad, provided the means with which we could have that home. Together, they provided a family unit. It wasn’t always perfect but I look back now and see God in it.

My husband and I have been married almost 10 years. We do not have children. Recently, God showed me that I haven’t viewed, fully, the fact that my husband and I make up our family. I’m 38, married for almost 10 years and when someone has asked about my family in the past, my thoughts immediately went to my family I had growing up in my parent’s house.

Yes, they are still my family and I love them very much but I realized I had to correct my thinking in regards to who my “family” is. My family is my husband. My family is this household we live in. Outside of that we have family, his and mine.

It was a revelation in the Word and in my own thinking.

I don’t know just yet what God’s plans are for me in the near future. I’m listening daily, seeking Him daily. I know if there is another position I must take outside of being able to be at home and work, I will do it faithfully and with gladness. I will play my part and follow His guidance. My steps are ordered.

This week however has helped me make some decisions about what I am pursuing. I do not have to work a job that I do not enjoy to justify it being “work.” My Bachelor of Science degree does not determine what I am meant to do. It serves a purpose. I wouldn’t be where I am at in life without it.

I will be blogging three days a week going forward. There may be some random posts in between as needed but Monday, Wednesday and Friday will be the schedule for now. It’s balanced.

My Bible study time will increase. It has this week and I’ve already seen the fruit of it.

I’m still excited about what God is doing. He’s revealing it according to His time and purpose. I’m at peace in that. I have slept better this week than I have in years.

You are never too old to follow His voice. Your past does not determine your future. Your degree does not determine your life.

Step out of your comfort zone. Get in the Word and see what God has for you.

 

Matthew 16:26 (KJV)

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?