One year ago this week, my husband came home with his head hung low, the weight of the world on his shoulders. It was a familiar look. A familiar pit in my stomach. A feeling I hadn’t ever wanted to feel again was paying us another visit.
While we had been through it twice in our married life already, and we had always, always seen God provide, it was still a devastating blow. He was laid off. Deep down I knew to trust because this meant God had a new plan in store for us and part of me was actually excited to see what that plan would be.
My mind swirled with a mix of excitement for what was to come, but I also knew what was ahead. I knew what a layoff meant. As a one income family, it would not be easy. Every penny would count. It would mean back to job searching, the cloud of uncertainty hanging over each day…it would be trusting God’s sovereignty that this would be OK.
Over the next several months there was a roller coaster of emotions. We saw God answer prayers in ways we never could have believed. We saw Him provide. We saw miracles. It was truly a time that the Lord meant for good.
Then after a long six months, His plan began to look so different from ours. My husband would get so close to finding a job, only to find out the pay wasn’t what was expected or it was wasn’t a good fit. Nothing was working.
The Lord then lead us to take a leap of faith and begin the journey of self employment. After so much prayer, so much time spent seeking His will, it became clear that this was the choice we were to make.
Once again, we would see Him provide immeasurably more than we could ever imagine.
Now that we are officially a self employed family, I have begun to think about what this means for our children’s future. Our goals for them are starting to include training them for self employment or a family business. This world is hard, and depending on others for our daily bread may not necessarily be the answer.
When we began the journey of self employment I knew that this meant we would be fully dependent on God each week for our needs. It would keep our focus on Him as our provider. And I think that is exactly where he wants us. It keeps our focus on Him knowing everything we receive is from His hands. It would have been too easy for us to forget that if my husband had easily found a job.
I want my kids to have the opportunity to be self employed if that is the Lords will. There are so many benefits for the whole family. It means you are your own boss, you are responsible for the business that is conducted, and you answer only to God.
Self employment isn’t easy, but its is worth it. The whole family is a team. We work together to support Daddy. We are all in this together. We pray each day for God to provide business, and He always, always does.
When it really comes down to it though, this life is short. It flies by. I want my kids to spend the short time they have on this earth making every hour count for the Lord. At the end of their lives, do they want to look back and add up the hours of their time spent on earth toiling for man or for God?
Work takes up the majority of a lifetime. Add up the amount of hours spent in the workplace and it is huge. I want them to spend their time doing something they love and doing something purposeful. Not living for five o’clock or the weekends. I want them living for Him each day. I want them to be able to enjoy what they do and make time for the things that matter. I want them to be able to provide for their families, but most importantly to be able to raise a family with values and with God.
A family business allows for so much freedom. It is a joy that God has placed us on this journey. Yes, it was a leap of faith, but certainly one that was worth it.
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