Today, I want to take a break from Proverbs and focus, instead, on the financial preparation that is often necessary before embarking upon the stay-at-home mom adventure. While I truly believe that God honors the wholehearted desire of the woman who wants to stay home, and the woman who's heart has been prayerfully changed and encouraged to stay home, rarely are all of the necessary resources and provisions handed to us on a silver platter. Is this beyond God's capabilities? Absolutely not. But, I've found that God enjoys coming with us on our spiritual quest for knowledge and discipline, especially when it comes to finances.
Briefly, our story is as follows: I was raised in a financially typical American middle-class home. As many gifts and talents that my parents did possess, financial stewardship was just something that they could not see eye-to-eye on. Credit cards were acceptable, and used often, debt was normal, money problems were hugely instrumental in the divorce, and student loans were just part of the paperwork as the college years began. While these things are not ideal stewardship principles, two things that I did learn from my parents were how to work and how to give. More on this later...
My husband had a very different financial upbringing. His parents believed in the power of savings. Debt, other than a mortgage, was unacceptable, you purchased only what you could afford with cash/monies readily available, and because of their chosen lifestyle, they were able to bless many others financially (and still do). My husband had little jobs as a child and honest, money-making jobs from the time he was 14. He graduated from college completely debt-free with the Godly financial sense necessary to move forward as an adult. One criticism? I called him the Money Hoarder.
Fast-forward a few years and you have a blushing bride with $28,000 in student loans, a few thousand on several credit cards, and she really didn't seem to think that was a big deal. Meanwhile, the groom is sweating bullets on how he is going to graciously receive his new wife and her less-than-stellar financial principles ingrained into her thick skull, while considering buying necessary groceries a painful procedure (that money could have gone to savings!). Thankfully, God is merciful. We needed each other. I needed to be tightened way down, and Patrick needed to loosen up. Was this an instant fix? No. Were there struggles along the way? Yes. Lesson learned? In order for a marriage to reap the full benefits God has to offer, we both had to forego our unhealthy financial ways and focus on the one true way to financial peace, Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
The Bible is full of excellent, practical, and modern advice on finances. I am not a financial counselor, so I can not offer advice on your specific situation, but I encourage you to start by looking up scripture on your own. What does God say about finances? How does he desire that we live with the resources He has entrusted to us? It can be as easy as typing in "financial scriptures in the Bible" into Google. As this blog continues, not only will I offer the practical MMSM tips, but I will also outline, in detail, the specific money principles that my family has chosen to adopt. In the mean time, if you know you are not where you or God intends you to be financially, I offer to you the best resource we have found. Visit Dave Ramsey's website. Dave Ramsey is a Christian financial expert. He offers a 13-week course titled Financial Peace University. If you don't know where to start, start here! This course (which, by the way, we completed twice!), was extremely instrumental in allowing us to fully live out our desired lifestyle of the man being the provider and the woman working in the home.
Once again, thank you for reading, and I pray financial peace over each and every one of you as you potentially move closer to the career of staying at home and making it work!
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