Several years ago, my husband and I made the decision for me to transition from working full- time as a speech-language pathologist to working a part-time contract, in order for me to stay home with our kids. This was a huge decision for us. It caused many questions to begin swirling around in our heads: Will we be able to make it on only one full-time income? Will we be able to save for retirement? Will we be able to give? Will we get ourselves back into debt? Will we live on Rice and Beans?

Although I felt a strong calling on my life to be home with my children, these concerns continued to gnaw at me. Fortunately, the Lord brought me encouragement through His word and through the admonishment of a faithful friend. At the time, I was reading in the book of Joshua and came across the passage in Joshua 3: 14 - 17 where the Levitical priests were carrying the Ark of the Covenant into the promised land. When they got to the Jordan River, they were told by God to cross it. Unlike the parting of the Red Sea, God did not part the Jordan before the priests began to cross. Instead, He asked them to step into a raging river, carrying a heavy wooden and golden box on their shoulders. Only after they set foot in the Jordan did God part it. What convicted me was their lack of hesitation. They didn’t stand there and whine "God aren’t you going to do something about this?!" like I would have done. No, they just crossed it. I knew in my heart that God wanted me home and I believe this verse was the encouragement I needed to begin the process of taking that Levitical step of faith and trusting God in this area of my life.

A few weeks later, I was sharing my hesitations, with a friend of mine. She looked at me square in the eye and gently said, "If God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, What makes you think that He can’t provide for your needs? Why not trust Him in this?" That was the proverbial straw for me – I was going to be home, no matter what it took. After that decision, all the arrangements began to fall into place. God provided a wonderful job-share partner who agreed to work 75% of the contract while I worked 25%. Moreover, she graciously donated her insurance to me, since she already had alternative coverage. God had also provided, in advance, a generous and flexible boss who was willing to say "yes" to an arrangement that was out of the norm. Finally, when the budget numbers wouldn’t work out on paper, He began to show us ways that we could cut our expenses and live more simply.

That was 9 years ago. Since then, we have moved twice, my husband has changed jobs, I started homeschooling, we had a third baby, and I stopped working outside the home altogether. I am so amazed, however, at how God has provided for our needs. We are in a better financial position now than we were when I was working full-time. This is not because we make more money, but simply because living on a budget has made us become more aware of where our money is going.

Not everyone has chosen or will choose to take this route. For some it truly may not be financially feasible. But I want to encourage those who want to be home either full or part time, it can be done in many or most circumstances – even if your husband doesn’t make the booko bucks. When we made the decision for me to work 1/4 time, I was amazed at the comments of some of my co-workers. One told me that there is absolutely no way financially they could do what I was doing (even though her husband made quite a bit more money than mine did). Another called my husband independently wealthy. Nothing could have been further from the truth! While we certainly were not living anywhere close to poverty, we were living on a missionary’s salary in addition to my 1/4 time check – hardly rolling in the dough. We really had to cut back our style of living to make it work, though.

Was it worth it? Yes, ten times over, yes! Looking back, I have absolutely no regrets coming home. I cherish this time with my children, knowing that I will most likely be able to have my career (and my salary) back after they are grown. I love seeing them learning and growing day in and day out. I can’t imagine what it would be like to miss out on this precious, limited time with them.