Epiphany

I learned a lot during this past week. For about seven days, I’ve been without an Internet connection. (My modem died, and I had to send away for a new one. You continued to get most of my regular posts here because I had nearly a week’s worth already written and scheduled to post on their own.)

Boy, do I rely heavily on the Internet. I get all my news there, keep in touch with friends there, and use it as a constant encyclopedia of knowledge. During my time without internet, I wanted to look up a conversion for cooking, how ballerinas stand on their toes (for my four year old), what books were available on a particular topic, and a myriad of other trivia.

But, most importantly, most of my paycheck comes from working online. (I write articles for a well known website.)

Despite these inconveniences, I greatly enjoyed my break from the computer. Even though I knew I’d have to make up for my missing income later, I was joyous. For the first time in over a year, I could spend my days focused on my children, my husband, and my household. No more stress, no more scrambling to make everyone’s schedule fit around my work time, no more trying to keep my children occupied and happy while I worked.

I loved every moment of last week. And my family appreciated having my full attention, too.

Even though I’d absolutely love to be “just” a mother and wife, this is not an option in our household. But after praying on it and discussing it with my husband, I’ve decided to radically change the way I work. Instead of taking time away from my children in order to earn money, I’ve decided to work when they are asleep. Ideally, I’d get up earlier in the morning, before anyone else was awake. I may try this as a backup plan, but experience tells me I require plenty of sleep; if I don’t get enough, I not only feel rotten, but I tend to be grumpy and impatient with my family.



So I’m going to try working after the kids go to bed at night. I already feel I get too little time with my hubby, but we thought we’d try working side by side in the evenings for no more than two hours. We’ll be together, although not focused on each other. I’m excited to try this method out, and I hope it will greatly improve my life and the lives of my family.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I wonder if there is some area of your life that’s making you less content than you could be. You may feel there’s no way to change that aspect of your life – but I encourage you to pray on it, anyway, with an open heart and mind. God loves us, and wants us to find contentment in life, even when (especially when!) things aren’t going exactly as we’d like. Perhaps with prayer and some creative thinking, you can make small changes to improve your life, too.

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