Great articles

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank

http://www.raisingarrows.net/2011/06/i-look-like-a-mom/


These 2 articles were recently sent to me and they both blessed me greatly!   I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, staying at home with my kids.  This is the path that God has laid out for me and my family and I don't care what anyone, including family, thinks about our decision as hubby and wife for me to stay at home.  Yes, I gave up my goals, my dreams, my plans for my life..............  If I worked - we could have already built or moved into a bigger house, we could afford a newer vehicle or 2, I could buy more clothes for myself and my kids,  my kids could do more, I could carry a new brand name purse each season, I could have a gym membership and a trainer, we could have all this stuff and more.  Isn't that right? 
You know what?  We have not missed out on anything!  We are so blessed and have more "stuff" than we ever need. Okay, I don't have a brand new Denali, but my old one runs just fine.  We don't have a big house, but our little home is just perfect for us right now and only time will tell if we move or not.  We will know when the time is right. We are blessed beyond measure and we don't care anymore about others or keeping up with others.  We are trying to live for the Lord and what works best for us. 
I recently contemplated going to work for a year, a job came open in pe and it would more than likely just be for a yr, and I inquired about the position, but went no further.  Honestly, I kept thinking how great this would be to take the salary I would make and just put it in savings and still live off the hubby.  But, when you start looking at the pros and cons of going to work, more cons than pros, and deeep down, I know where I belong - at home!   Just paying for daycare was not really worth it and many other reasons.  I let Satan tempt me with thinking we needed the money more than my family needed me at home.  Wrong - my kids and hubby need and want me at home.  The thought of leaving my sweet Brock at a daycare made me sick to my stomach, I don't want strangers raising my kids.  I want to spend every moment I can with them, they grow to fast as it is.
Just as one of the articles talks about how people think you are crazy for wanting more than 1 or 2 kids, I have fully realized how true this is.  I can't tell you the times women have said "you must be crazy to want another baby", or even better, "how do you stay at home every day, I need adult interaction, or I don't have the patience to be at home."  Whatever - these are the women who miss out and obviously need a reality check.  But, to each their own, I am not their judge.....just sayin'.    I never myself imagined I would want more than 1 or 2 kids, but here I am, still missing the 2 babies I miscarried this year.  The Lord has blessed me 4 times being pregnant and how thankful I am to Him for that, even if the last 2 times were brief.  I am a mother of 4 and I don't care what people think of that.  No, I am not crazy and will not say I have 4 kids when people ask, but in my heart, I have 4.   Who are these people to tell me what and how many kids we should have?  This is God's plan, not mine or yours.  As my daughter says and sometimes I would very much like to tell some people, "worry about yourself" , but I keep my mouth shut. 
So, as I think about how my goals, my dreams, and my plans - I just know I was going to win a state basketball title (or several) and then coach college - went down the drain, does it cause me sadness?  Nope! Because the Lord has given me so much more when it comes to plans and what I need to be doing in my life, this reward of staying at home is worth more than any championships I could ever won.  I am blessed beyond measure and don't deserve any of it, I deserve nothing, yet by the grace of God :

He chose me
He saved me
He loves me despite all my failures
He washed me with His blood
I am just a sinner saved by grace!   Praise the Lord!!