Work-At-Home Mom Tips

I feel that God has given me gifts and abilities to develop and use. Yet, I also am in charge of raising two beautiful children, supporting my spouse and maintaining a peaceful and orderly household. I often ask myself if I am doing what I am supposed to and if I am maintaining an appropriate balance in my life.

I just started reading a book called "Being a God Chaser and a Kid Chaser" by Tommy Tenney and Thetus Tenney. I have already been very blessed by this book, loaned to me by a fellow homeschooling mom. It is very reassuring to hear of other moms who felt called to pursue a particular ministry and at the same time raise a family. Whether it is a formal ministry or a career or business, being a mom and trying to pursue any other calling is a daunting task yet one that some of us may be called to accomplish.

Most of the tips that I have read so far mostly involve being realistic about how much ministry or other work you can accomplish when your children are very small. Many of the authors discussed the importance of seasons in a mother's life. What may seem difficult when your children are at home will become easier if you send your children to school. Many homeschooling moms have told me that as kids get older and their learning is more independent, even homeschooling moms may also have more time to devote to other passions.

Most authors also discussed the importance of fitting in small amounts of study, prayer and reflection into daily life. One mom even writes how she used her commode cleaning time for specific prayer time! Other moms suggested carving out private times early in the morning or late at night and the bathroom was even mentioned as a potential private place for prayer, reflection and study!

I have struggled with my calling to pursue my non-family passions and balancing those with the very important role of providing a loving, learning home for my family. This book has provided me with some practical solutions to my everyday balancing act even as I continue to pray of guidance in these issues.

We received a little notice today about to make money from home. The flier advertises that you can start your own business, be your own boss and have no start up costs. The flier mentions a May special that we can only get with the flier and it gives some dates and times and the location of meetings that we must attend to find out more.

Having followed up on similar opportunities in my area in the past, I know that this is a MLM or network marketing company. These are the kinds of companies in which the real money gets made only if you can get others to sell the products that you want to or are about to start selling.

How do I know? Some red flags:

-Note the very limited information on the flier.
-No company name is given
-No company location is given
-No idea of what the company may be selling or offering is given
-The full name, title and contact person of the person sending the flier is absent
-There is no mention of what requirements might be needed for one to start this business

Why should one waste one's precious time away from family attending an evening or weekend meeting about a home business opportunity of which you have no idea if you are qualified or if you should be interested? And what kind of company would want to recruit people into its ranks those who would blindly follow such a teaser in ad in hopes of starting a business?

Starting a business is serious business and should be treated as such. There is no room for games such as "curiosity ads" in the search for legitimate business opportunities.

Sometimes, it seems as if I just do not have enough hours in the day. Today was a big housecleaning day for me so I totally slipped into full mommy mode and did not do any writing in the morning at all. I cleaned, cooked and then cleaned up again. And you know what? I really enjoyed myself! I like being "just Mommy" because it is fun.

Yes there is writing to be done but it is a beautiful day. It is hard trying to find the right balance sometimes! But I have to admit that the stress of trying to balance it all while working from home is so much less than when I worked outside of the home. See my post for more on my working life at my other blog here.

Praise God for that!

One of my favorite websites, ChoosingHome.com, the brain child of two great blogging homeschool moms, is having a "Housewarming Party" and you are invited. See below for details or visit Molly's blog to find out more.

It's a House-Warming Party to celebrate the grand opening of www.ChoosingHome.com and you are invited!

Ok, so what exactly are we talking about here? Well, Jenna and I were looking for some articles on the topic of being at home, and thought this would be a fun way to do it (ok, actually, it was all Jenna's idea--I just enthusiastically agreed with her!), especially since we know so many of you have so much to offer women out there! So here's the scoop:

Topic: Choosing to Be at Home

Subject Matter: Anything to do with above topic.

Examples: Share your story of how you made the decision to be a "full-time-at-home" woman, tips on how to make the transition from career to home-worker, perks and benefits of being at home, difficulties you've overcome, cultural assumptions and lies about "housewives," and the list goes on... (Obviously this will pertain more to women than to men, but men are by no means excluded and are welcome to share about the importance of home life as well).

Date: June 1st will be the big "party," so be sure and spread the word. We will post the articles and their respective links on our new site on June 1st, as well as feature some in June's newsletter (also sent out June 1st).

Contributor Requirements: Article(s) can be written via your blog and the link sent our way, OR (especially for those of you who do not have blogs or websites--we really want to here from you too!) simply typed out and emailed to us. Articles need to be submitted by May 25th. Send entries to admin AT choosinghome DOT com with the following information included:

1.) Your name,

2.) Your website/blog address (if applicable),

3.) The link to your article (or the typed-out article) you are submitting,

4.) A three line "biography" about yourself.

Special Note: There will be special prizes given (award catagories are top secret--sorry!) and every participant will recieve a special *gift* from Choosing Home. Award winners will be announced June 1st on the site.


Please feel free to spread the word--the more participating, the merrier!

Great news! My self-coaching book helping moms find the best home business to suit their personality is now available through my LuLu.com store.

Newly updated in 2005, "A Mother's Dream: Finding Fulfillment by Starting a Home Business" is a valuable resource for moms who want to investigate the family-friendly money-making alternative of working from home. The book, available by immediate download in e-book format, not only covers the basics of starting a home business such as avoiding scams, but more importantly, it helps you asses what opportunity is best for you.

By considering your personality, strengths and weaknesses, the workbook portion of the book asks thought-provoking questions to help you decide which home business opportunity to pursue. Unlike other resources that may try to push one home business, over another, Dr. Carrington uses her past experience as a psychiatrist and as a mom who transitioned into a work-at-home business to guide moms to discover their true passion and the best home based business opportunity for them.

"A Mother's Dream" does still contain an extensive list of resources, both online and offline, to assist moms and others in finding a home based business opportunity and creating success as an entrepreneur. Suggested books, websites and organizations are featured.

The most unique feature of the book is the bonus section featuring interviews with highly successful work-at-home moms. Insightful and informative, these moms will inspire you to begin to build your own home-based business.

Get your copy of the book instantly today for only $19.95!

I came across this blog at Daryl's and it is very interesting.

There are certain challenges associated with working from home and homeschooling so it was nice to read about another mom who is working this out.

Check out her post on being a work-at-home mom (also known as a WAHM).