working from home

I've been doing a lot of thinking about working from home lately.

Joe and I moved to Washington in January, and so far I haven't been working outside of our home. Originally, through doing a Bible study called "Marriage Without Regrets" at our church in Connecticut, we learned about the importance of the woman being a worker in the home and by looking at the creation account in Genesis, that the woman is created to be man's helper and companion. I also was encouraged by Heather Koerner's articles "Why I'm at Home" and "Ten Things Now to Stay at Home Later" in Boundless, an online Christian magazine.

Joe and I hope to be parents sometime in the future, and if we are fortunate to have children, I would like to stay at home with them. But by no means is this a simple or easy choice for me. The intellectual, independent side of me has thoughts like, "But I can work too. Why did I go to college if I'm going to stay at home with kids? What is my purpose and am I really doing enough? Will my mind be challenged enough? Is there some way I can contribute to our family income without a typical 9-5 job outside the home?"

And the more I think and learn about it, the more hope I have that I can work from home, doing something that builds on skills I already have, doing something that I won't hate. Something that allows me to spend time with my family and help Joe. For me, with my background in business and finance, maybe it's learning how to prepare tax returns, become a medical transcriptionist, or purchase and manage a rental property.

I guess only time will tell. I feel compelled by my faith in the Lord, and his guidance, to look into this, and am beginning to see the wisdom of His ways.