Caring For Our Families

As I grow older, the reality of what my working at home over the past 13 years has done for my family seems to keep hitting me in waves. My husband and I were talking about it in bed the other night. Another incident had happened which helped emphasise how important it was that I am home all the time. Nothing serious but it could have been a major inconvenience for the family member involved had I not been available.

We talked about things that happened when our girls were in their teens and there were some really rocky patches there. The girls have come out of it well but some of them had really difficult periods and there was a time we were fearful that actions might be taken that could completely change the course of several people’s lives. Those people being family members – have you thought how each action or decision you make can have a vast effect on those around you? Family foremost and then friends as well.

Our daughters could have been very different people to who they are now, had they reacted in a different way to various situations and my husband and I both believe that the reason why things progressed as they have is because I was present for the majority of the time. The girls knew I would be home when they came home from school. I could tell as they walked in the door what kind of day they had, just by the way they talked and walked. They knew if they had a problem they could pick up the phone and ask me to come and get them. Or that I would assist them or accompany them at a time that was difficult for them. I didn’t have to ask a boss permission for time off, or to leave early, or to dash out the door suddenly.

Don’t underestimate the value of being a mum at home – a Proverbs 31 woman. The Proverbs 31 woman was both a business woman and a work at home mum and she was present for the most part, for her family. Verses in this book talked about selecting food from afar and purchasing land, however I do feel if she travelled for a time, that there was family at home to continue caring for the young and to keep things on track. Children were not left unattended, even in those years when they feel they no longer need ‘babysitting’. The reality is they are still learning to make their way in our world and they need guidance, even as they enter into their twenties.

Make it your goal to be there as much as you can for your family and if you find that both work and other commitments take you away day and night, perhaps you need to reassess what can be changed and seek our Lord for His guidance in your decision-making.