in 3 months

In three months I will no longer be employed.

That's pretty scary and pretty exciting at the same time.  I have been a teacher for the past 6 years.  I started teaching straight out of college, and started college straight out of High School.  So if you think about it, I haven't stopped going to school since the age of 5.

Why am I quitting?

Because I believe with all my heart that this is what God wants me to do.  God has put a desire in my heart to stay home and finally be able to get my priorities straight.  I don't know how everything will play out and I know it won't be perfect, but I also know that if it's God's will then that's what I want too.

What will I miss about my job?

I will miss many things about being a teacher.  I will miss seeing the light bulbs go off in those little minds.  I will miss talking and goofing off with my coworkers.  I will miss all the goodies and perks that go along with Teacher Appreciation week, lol!  I will miss the feeling that I am making some kind of worldly impact. And if I'm being 100 percent honest, I will miss the paycheck, as little as it was.

What will I not miss about my job?

There are so many crazy changes happening now in education and society that have made being a teacher very difficult.  Most teachers feel so overwhelmed and under appreciated.  Most days I feel like I'm just hanging on by the skin of my teeth.  No job is perfect, but being a teacher is not what is was 30 years ago.

I will not miss being so tired of dealing with kids, specifically misbehaving ones, that I have no patience or energy left for my own children.  That is a big, big problem that I've dealt with ever since the beginning.  After a day at work, I have very little left for my family.  I hate that.

Do I think being a stay at home mom will be easy?

No way!  I think somethings in life will be easier, but then others will be more difficult.  I'm not about to get into a debate about what is better or what is easier, because we are all different.  What's best for me is not necessarily best for everyone.

I can't wait to be home with Jack during the day, clean house, cook meals, keep up with laundry (or try to), run errands during the day, volunteer at school,  and do all those motherly and wifely duties.  I really do enjoy those things.  I get really stressed out when I am so busy with my job that I can't keep my house clean.

Not to mention the fact that our income will be majorly cut, so that will be very difficult at first.  We are trusting that if this is God's will, which I'm positive it is, then He will provide and meet all our needs.

How can you live on one income?

I think it's absolutely possible to live on one income, even if your husband or wife isn't a doctor or lawyer.  Brent recently started a new, well paying job.  Money will be tight at times, but life is not all about money.  We will have  food, clothing, and shelter.  We may not be buying all the new gadgets, or best new cars, or going on a vacation every holiday, but I don't want our lives to be about how many things we have.  I want to teach my kids that our lives are not valued by how much money or stuff we can accumulate, but by how we use what we have to glorify God and care for others.

If we want to go on a vacation we will have to plan and save for it, and that's perfectly fine with me.  I'm not going to continue working just so we can have more things.

I'm a part of a ladies bible study right now about simplicity, which was perfectly timed by God.  He is teaching me things right now that go hand in hand with the changes that are coming up in my life.

Will you ever go back to work?

I honestly don't know.  How could I know?  I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know Who holds tomorrow!!  If I were to take a guess I would say probably not any time soon, but I definitely would if I had to.  Whatever God leads me to do, I will do!  I can't wait to see what God has planned for me and my family, because I know it's far better than anything I could plan.