A story of God’s faithfulness and provision.
One year ago this month, I quit my full-time job to be a work-from-home mom. It feels like just yesterday I was reading James 1:2-8 nearly every day and asking God for wisdom about my work situation. Completely quitting my full-time job was not what my husband and I originally had in mind. However, since I had a growing desire to be at home more and difficulty securing full-time childcare, my husband and I felt strongly that God was leading us to make this decision. It was definitely a step of faith.
I walked away from a fairly stable job to start working from home by creating my own business. I had side gigs before to earn extra income, but none of those ventures were strong enough replace my full-time income. Truthfully, I was scared of what people would think when I decided to start my own marketing company. I was scared of another failed business attempt and the “I told you so’s” I might hear if I found myself closing another business.
In light of those fears, I prayed “Lord, please don’t let me fall.” I quickly felt God respond with “I’m not in the business of just keeping you from falling; I’m in the business of making you soar on wings like eagles.” (“…but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31)
One of the main reasons I wanted to work from home was to have more time to invest in raising my children. What I have since found is that being led by God into a position of greater dependence on Him has been an invaluable experience for my faith. I have witnessed His faithfulness and provision in new ways that have left me amazed.
Over the past year, there have been a couple times when I really didn’t know from where or when my next job would come. In those times God provided unexpected work, unexpected refunds, and unexpected checks in the mail…our family has had what we needed when we needed it. I have learned to not worry about if God will provide, instead I wait with hopeful expectation for how He will provide.
While I have not nearly replaced my full-time income, I have been able to make enough to help pay our bills while being at home with our children. My husband and I consider that a success. I have also had the opportunity to meet some pretty amazing small business owners and help them market their businesses.
Looking back over this past year, my husband and I have also experienced confirmation that our decision was really the best decision for our family. Little did we know that nearly six months after I quit my full-time job, we would find out our 12 month old son was severely allergic to dairy. This made childcare arrangements even for short times of 1-2 hours very difficult. If he chewed on or played with the same toys as children who had recently consumed milk products, he would have an allergic reaction. This was a scary time. We decided to keep him at home and out of childcare until we knew more about his severity and how to manage it. That decision for our son’s safety was only possible because I was already working from home.
I am thankful to all the business owners who have trusted me over the past year with their marketing needs. I have built websites, designed printed materials, consulted, set up email marketing, and designed graphics. It has been a blessing to work with so many fantastic small businesses and I look forward to what the future holds!