Once I realized that, I was able to ask “Hey, what is God’s will for my life and a wife and mother?” At that point, I began a journey of renewing my mind and really walking in God’s will for me.

Amen, sister! You’ve articulated my feelings exactly. I have to remember all of these homemaking skills are learned skills that won’t come to me overnight!

“Don’t give up in despair.” I’ll have to work on that one. I will say all the books (you’ve recommended) and blogs I’ve been reading have been a tremendous encouragement. I have to remember, too, that we’re all in a spiritual battle with an unseen enemy that wants to destroy anything in our lives that honors God. It’s exciting to think of the generation of children that we faithful homeschool moms (and dads) are raising, and God may do some mighty work in America with all these little people being discipled by us.

Thank you for your comment. In light of 1 Timothy 2:12’s admonition that women should not teach men, I am uncomfortable advising you on how you can best lead your family. However, the Vaughn family of Vaughnshire farm has made just the sorts of lifestyle changes you describe. Their blog might be a good resource for you as it is written from not only Beth’s but also Paul’s perspective. Paul Vaughn may even be able to answer your questions directly.

Of course, if your wife would like to talk with me about anything, I would be more than happy for her to engage me in a discussion.

All the best,
Mrs. Parunak

Clearly for my wife and me, the challenge is our need for income. We both work full time. My wife is a teacher and she has the summers off and she is off now for maternity leave. So in a sense she has been dabbling with staying at home and we would both like to make it permanent, but we cannot afford to go without her income permanently. I know it has not been easy for her to stay home for a lot of the reasons you discussed. I would like to be able to help her more but there is only so much I can do while working full-time. We are blessed in that I am able to work from home on some days, but I am limited in what I can do to help my wife because I need to separate myself from the family while I work.

I have given much thought to the idea of moving out of the city so we can live in a place where we can have a lower cost of living thus making it possible to live on just one income. This would also make it possible for us to have more room for the kids to explore and play. I feel they get restless from being cooped up in a house with a small yard. I also think that this will allow us to raise our children in a place that is safer and has more traditional values. But reading your article, I realize that all of this is only part of the problem. My job is part of the problem too. Should I contemplate a career change that would allow me to work from home in some sort of family business that I can participate in without needing to exclude our family? At the end of the last article you suggest that we need to be “radical.” Am I insane for considering such a radical change from the cultural norms? I realize that today’s society is completely dysfunctional. I keep coming to the conclusion that we need to create our own “utopia” like you called it in the first article. We need to set ourselves apart and live very differently. But all this change is very intimidating and downright scary. Am I crazy to think this way? Has anyone made such a change and lived to tell about it?

I’m delighted that you’ve been dropping by my blog! I’ll look forward to trying to give you a call sometime. We need to catch up!

It is obvious from the traffic on you site that you are effecting and encouraging the women who come here – keep it up!