Stay-at-home-What?! Part II

It has been one of the biggest joys of my life to be Chuck's wife, and to stay at home. I was greatly reminded of this passion the other day when a good friend of mine announced, "I just want to be a wife and a mom!" (This coming from a woman with an amazing career!) She uttered the EXACT sentence I have said for countless years. And now ladies and gentlemen, I am a wife! I keep announcing it because it's still hard to fathom.

Staying home hasn't come without difficulty though. I did not expect the intangible pressure that is out there for a young married woman to be working. I did not expect the funny looks, the confused glances, or the silence that would follow. I can understand though in our Nation's Capitol, with hard-working women driven in their careers all over the place, I am not the norm (any more).

Staying home hasn't come without sacrifice either. It is not easy financially. I'm certainly not a Desperate Housewife of DC. Because my husband is firm in his support of me desiring to stay home, we have both accepted certain sacrifices that have to be made in order for me to be able to do this. Interestingly enough, this has been that part that has been most exciting!

GOD PROVIDES. Obviously God provides, but saying it and living it are two completely different entities. It would take hours to read my blog if I were to recount all the crazy ways God has provided for us. I can just feel God's support and encouragement of this decision that Chuck and I have made! After all, God is the one who has given me the desire to be a wife!

Whether it was through a "random" bill that we ended up not having to pay, money showing up in strange places around our apartment (No lie! This has happened more then once!), being taken out to eat, being given food, "late" wedding gifts, or a small raise for Chuck= GOD ALWAYS PROVIDES in wonderful, incredible, mysterious ways! I was so excited about God's provisions last night that I could hardly fall asleep! But it's true! God has blessed us and we are humbled. It never ceases to blow my mind how intricately God works.

Don't get me wrong. If God leads me to go back to work, then work I will. I understand sometimes that is how he provides. But for now, I am marveling and wondering at this gift I have to be HOME for my husband!

And the answer to the ever-popular question, "What do you DO all day?" Well, you'll just have to wait and see for Part III!