Resting in the dignity of work, the place of a woman, and home sweet home

I had to lose my job in order to write this post, you know.

I already have a new job, though. God is so good!

It’s the job I’ve been dreaming of and praying about for the past five years, actually:

I’m a wife and mother. Six gorgeous kids ages 16-3. One gorgeous husband, 43ish.

It’s a full-time job, of course. Lots of overtime. And the family have access to me at all hours, which can be tiring. But I do get to work from home.

I am loving it. :)

I am grateful and so humbled by God’s mercy toward me. I am filled with such respect, too, for my husband stepping up to provide for us on his own again with such charity, kindness, strength, and trust in God.

Have you heard of a jorrow?

I did like my job at a stellar ad agency here in town. I still think the world of them and truly understand why they had to let me go when they did.

Losing my job was both a joy and a sorrow—a jorrow, as my Domestic Church circle coined it years ago. I have honestly prayed for years I might get to be home someday again, in God’s timing. Summer and holiday breaks were the hardest with having to be away from the kids. And I lived so tired much of the time. I have deeply desired a slower pace of life. After I dropped the kids off this morning at school, I actually teared up as I passed the Walmart parking lot where I would often pull over to steal a desperate 10min cat nap before heading to work. Even working part-time was a physically and emotionally demanding, intense lifestyle for me personally, with the season of life my family is in right now.

The dignity of work and the place of a woman

For years now, even in the midst of having peace that I was where I was supposed to be, I have had to recommit to trust over and over again that God had me where He needed me.

One of the most consoling things I learned as a working mom is that all the work I do out of obedience to God matters to Him and is used by Him.

He can do as much with me crafting an email to a client as He can with me pushing my preschooler on the swing in the backyard.

As I transition back to being a stay-at-home mother, I’ve been thinking about how there are lots of voices on the Internet telling a woman where she should be. At least in my algorithms, there are not a lot of people telling women that they should be asking God, and nobody else, where she is supposed to be.

I’ve been so many different “types” of mother, as far as lifestyle and work. I couldn’t have made up all the twists and turns in my motherhood and work story so far if I tried. God asked me to work inside of my home for the first 12 years of being a wife and mother. I homeschooled for 7 years at one point. Over the past five years, I have worked both full-time and part-time. I have worked both from home and outside the home. I’ve even owned a business or two with my husband. Now, He’s asked me to go home again, and all of my kids are in school.

He keeps me on my toes for sure.

Here is my humble two cents from the perspective of having done almost everything under the sun when it comes to being a Christian wife and mother and work: A woman’s place is where God asks her to be.

He needs each of us where He’s asking us to be, and we can’t look at what anyone else is doing or posting to discern that. We can’t go with what we or anyone else will think will make us happiest. We have to discern with God, and with our husband if we have one.

Sometimes where God asks a woman (or a man!) to be won’t be where you entirely want to be. But I can attest—so many of you I’m sure can also attest to this, though—that life can change from one day to the next. To be present, to be obedient, to trust God—that is everything.

But it’s important that we don’t think God’s will won’t ever align with ours. We have to learn to receive the plans we like and the plans we don’t. (And who says both lessons aren’t tough?)

God wants us to learn to receive a new season we’re happy about, with all its accompanying joy, as much as He ever hopes we will choose to receive in faith those seasons that we don’t like or understand.

“Lord, if you are willing, you could…”

In today’s Gospel, a leper throws himself at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you could make me clean.”

That is a posture of prayer and a spiritual truth for all of us.

Lord, if you are willing…

…You could take away this particular source of suffering in my life

…You could heal this illness

…You could send me my dream job

…You could make that test result say what I want it to say

But sometimes we don’t get what our hearts desire; I wonder if it’s in life’s disappointments that grace flows and souls grow the most.

I suspect that has been the case in my story.

New year, new me…again

I think this is at least my third January blog post where I’ve written about how God’s turned my life upside down.

This year, though, it’s a slowing down that I’m writing about.

I'm learning from a friend how to bake homemade bread.

I joined a Catholic writing group I’ve been following for a couple of years now.

I’m exercising regularly for the first time since my fifth child was born.

I’m spending more one-on-one time with my hilarious, dear little three year old than I have since I was on maternity leave for him.

I have been away from home for a long time, and I am home again. It’s been wonderful. But because of those blessed years “away”, in a sense, God is ever more my rock—rather than the shifting sands of what I feel would make me happiest.

Home, sweet home, indeed. May we all reach that spiritual place and cling to it all the days of our lives.

God bless you if you made it through this entire post! I hope that my sharing this life update would be a catalyst for grace, or hope, or just a moment of consolation for some of you in your own life. I don’t know where God will take my writing this year, but please pray for me, if you will. I pray for you!

We took some family pictures for the first time in a few years, and our photographer snapped this pretty shot of me. Stay-at-home-mom-Erin doesn’t look this put-together as often these days, something that’s new after years of putting together a cute outfit and doing my hair and makeup every day for work!