Career Suicide

I have committed the unspeakable act of career suicide. There are those who would say I was guilty of flushing my career down the proverbial toilet. After all, I didn't get paid for my career, so therefore I wasn't legitimately occupied. I didn't "punch a clock" or work for the state. My resume would read as follows: home-schooled my children from birth through high school (3 out of 4, anyway--one currently in public high school). That's it! (well, not exactly). I did teach 3rd and 4th grades for a year before we began our own family, owned my own daycare, farm and real estate appraisal business with my husband. That is roughly 219,000 hours and counting of unpaid work, round the clock, no sick days or paid time off--HA!!! No pension, no promotions, no fame or fortune. Zippo.

If I could go back and do it all over, would I change anything? Perhaps. How do you finish a 26-year marathon then look back and not see how you couldn't have done some things better? Of course I could in a perfect world. In a perfect world, I would've taught my children with unlimited resources of time and money with never a worry of any lack. Obviously, this was never my reality, in the natural. By that, I mean apart from God's provision, there was no WAY I could have accomplished what I did those many, many, MANY hours, days, months, seasons, years. NO way--impossible! Did I ever want to quit? Absolutely! Ever get discouraged? Every day. Ever doubt the outcome of my work? Too many times. Worry unnecessarily? OH did I ever.

I was just stubborn enough to believe that if God called our family to do this, He would have to make a way. And He did! Boy, did He ever!! My sons both went on to achieve top honors in their programs in their post-secondary education, our youngest now in public high school getting all A's (a B+ in P.E. to her chagrin), and our other daughter and her husband now owning their own farm and raising their own family. My husband supported me all the way all those years. If it weren't for him having our own business, I'm not sure we would have home-schooled as long as we did. Somehow God made it possible to make a one-income household thrive. Together, we worked hard, played hard, and prayed often. My advice to families today is this: eat meals together every day, whenever possible. This is the best way to talk about your day, solve the world's problems, and talk about future vacations, goals, and dreams. And always, ALWAYS spend time together in God's Word and pray!


More important than any achievements the world may deem to be "successful" is that each one of our children is living for Jesus. Nothing else would matter one crumb if they didn't love the Lord with their whole hearts. Nothing. I am not saying that home-schooling is the answer, and no matter where your children attend school, the time you spend with your children (and I mean actively involved) is never, ever wasted! People now ask me if I will go back into teaching, and I almost always say "no". But really I never have quit teaching, and since I'm used to doing it without pay, I may as well continue. Career suicide? Depends on who you ask.