Bloom Where You Are

God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called.

It was after reading that quote last year, that I had a light bulb moment about my role as a working mother. This is what I wrote at the time on my other blog:

For so long, I've prayed and anguished over not being a stay at home mom. It's what I feel called to do. I didn't understand why God would place this yearning on my heart to mother a large family but not see fit for me to serve them at home. Why do I have to live with one foot in both worlds? How would I ever reach my true calling?

But this morning, I realized my calling isn't necessarily some future event in which through God's grace I will become united with later. It's not out there, it's not when the money is right or when I find the right job. My calling is RIGHT NOW! Where I am right now - as a working wife and mother - is where God has called me to be. I'm releasing the guilt I've felt in the past. I'm releasing the anger over not being able to change my situation. I'm going forth embracing my life as it is and praising God all the while.

It's not giving up on a dream or passively letting life happen to me. It's accepting God's current will for my life. Where he wants me TODAY.

For those of you who are wrestling with feeling like you are not the wife or mother you should be because your current situation finds you working outside of your home, BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE! Take on your role as working home keeper and forget all those voices that say you can't just because you earn a paycheck outside of the home. And when balancing both gets rough, stand firm in the promise that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. I choose to believe that includes both keeping my house clean and working full-time :)

Why The Working Home Keeper?

Last year, my husband and I decided it was time to get our financial act together and began the process of getting out of debt (ala Dave Ramsey). As apart of that, I turned to the Internet for information on frugality in the home, saving money and simple living. To my delight, I found a host of wonderful and informative blogs. While I found the information to be extremely valuable, I wondered why it seemed to be exclusively targeted towards stay at home moms. Didn't mothers working outside of the home cook meals from scratch, menu plan, coupon, and clean house all while attending to the needs of their husband and children? I did and I was sure other WOHMs did as well. So why did it seem like the WOHM perspective was completely absent? Then it hit me - duh! The writers of these blogs are stay at home moms trying to encourage other stay at homes in the challenges they face each day. And since we can only write about what we know...

So now I'm here, hoping to provide positive encouragement to other mothers and home keepers like me. I also feel the need to say that I HATE these supposed "Mommy Wars". Aside from being one of the most ridiculous media contrived inventions, it has to be the farthest thing from true Christian sisterhood. I don't feel it's necessary to put down one woman's situation in order to encourage another in hers. So consider this a war free zone :)

About Me

My name is Mary Ellen and I'm a full-time mother of 3 (ages 6, 4 and 2) and work full-time outside of the home. Seem like an oxymoron? Not exactly! Just like our stay-at-home counterparts, working mothers are also the head chefs, chauffeurs, calendar keepers, maids, classroom volunteers, boo-boo kissers and Chief Executives of our homes. Managing both home and work is a difficult and delicate balancing act. But through God's grace, I'm learning to grow in my roles as wife, mother and home keeper. And discovering that those roles are not diminished by working outside of the home.

Thank you for visiting The Working Home Keeper blog!