Monday, July 28, 2014

More Time

For a time now I've been hearing the call on my heart to spend more time being a parent to Nora, serving my family and building relationships within my community.

I made a decision recently that is clearly right for my family at the right time, but that will require me to lean on God.

At my 4-day a week job at a private school in Peachtree City I have stepped into the role of financial administrator. Before this change in responsibilities, I worked there Monday through Thursday and worked from home on Fridays for a pro-life organization, Life Training Institute.

I had always said out loud that one day I wanted to work 4 days a week, thinking that it wouldn't ever be an actual possibility. Then this work change came out of the blue and I had to decide if now was the time I had been waiting for to take this leap.

As I mentioned before, I have felt convicted for a time about my need to build more relationships within my church and community. In my present situation, I don't have the time or energy for that.

That said, I have decided to freelance as needed on Fridays and devote my time to one job.

Now, on Fridays I hope to write for the local magazine, woodwork, continue to freelance for LTI, blog, and, most importantly, spend time with NORA. I want this to be a day where I can build relationships and work on friendships. I want to have time to take a meal to the family with a new little one or meet my stay-at-home mom friends at the park with their children.

Oh, yeah, and my husband will be launching a Halloween Etsy store — BlackRavenHollow — in the coming days. I know you want more details on this randomness. Rest assured, they are coming :-)

The financials have worked out, too. At first this was sure to be a pay cut for our family, but we have already made up for the shortfall by budgeting and cutting expenses. God is so good!

Change is scary for me. This at its root, is me being obedient to God's call and stepping out in faith. It has always been my heart's desire to work as much as possible and earn the most money possible. I've searched my heart and realized that I'm a people pleaser and I like the prestige of doing "important work." I've finally realized that being Mom, Wife and Friend is important work!

But, I also need to say this out loud: What I don't want to end up doing with that time is more laundry, more grocery shopping, more OCD things that will always be there and can ultimately wait. I can't look at this as a house manager promotion, although I'm sure there will be times that I will need to get groceries on a Friday so we don't all starve.

This new schedule will begin this Friday, Aug. 1. For a bit, I will be putting in a decent number of freelance hours for LTI as I wrap up a marketing project that I've been knee deep in this summer. But as that dwindles, I can't wait to enjoy the fall with my family and friends.

Please pray for me as I obey God's call and step outside my comfort zone — and please hold me accountable. I'm not as brave as I pretend to be sometimes — please make plans with me so I will follow through and not squander the extra time that has been afforded me in my week.

God Bless!

2 comments:

  1. Yay!!! Congrats on announcing such a big decision! It's gonna be great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And we'll get to spend some more time together!!

      Delete