Last Updated on April 29, 2019 by Stacy Averette
After 14 years of marriage and three young children, I left the work I loved to be a stay-at-home-mom and full-time homemaker. I’d earned 3 degrees and had years of experience in my field but I was unprepared for a life at home.
A Woman Plans Her Way
I was a committed Christ follower focused on school, church, and responding to God’s call to minister full-time in the local church. I couldn’t imagine ever doing anything else. When my husband and I began dating during my freshman year of college, I had no plans to fall in love and marry him anytime soon (if at all). But God had other plans. We fell in love then married my junior year.
A lot happened as the plan unfolded after high school: I got married, earned a bachelor’s degree, moved to New Orleans, had two miscarriages, earned a master’s degree, moved back to Alabama, gave birth to my first son, moved to Tennessee, earned a doctorate degree, gave birth to my daughter, had another miscarriage, and gave birth to my second son. I loved every part of my life—-being a wife, mother, student, and minister was everything I had hoped it would be. I couldn’t imagine ever doing anything else.
And then the Lord stirred my heart again. This time He was calling me to be a full-time homemaker. My children were 6, 2, and 1 at the time and while I was excited about being with them more, I wasn’t quite sure how we would make it financially. Like most families, we had grown accustomed to two incomes.
Despite our fear we chose to trust the Lord and take a step of faith. We relied heavily on our savings to make up the difference each month but I soon realized I didn’t have a clue how to be full-time a homemaker. I needed to learn how to cook, clean, organize my home, and manage my time and money. And I needed to learn fast! The diplomas I had earned and library of books I had collected were now stored away in a box in the garage.
I was embarking on a different kind of education and nothing could have prepared me for how hard it would be or the life lesson God wanted me to learn. The truth is, He had been teaching me all along.
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Aw, I can’t wait to hear the rest of your story!
I had made so many plans to be an incredibly self-sufficient work-a-holic… even when what I wanted to “do” changed or was changed for me it still involved getting a doctorate and being very driven and gettin ‘er done. God laughed and said I will force your stillness and make you incredibly dependent on other people. :-p A hard, great grace to not be consumed in building my own worth, I suppose.