After numerous and frequent childcare providers with our first child and moving in that direction for the second, we determined we needed our own hope and change. I would quit full time ministry work outside the home and attempt to lend stability to our children. We confronted days shuffling between two and three providers thinking "this can't be good." Though not a rebel or a party animal, I am not a poster boy for stability, either. My employment status shift to home life was never an obligation to an idealized nuclear family--obviously not--or I wouldn't be the one at home. I think my spouse and I are pragmatists (a tired word--probably soon to be removed from my lexicon) and the arrangement was a good intersection of ideals and short-term sanity.
Spending most of my days at home, I have taken brief forays into compensated work. In less than 18 months I have:
Delivered newspapers
Custodial work
Substitute High School English Teacher
Part-time ministry
The part-time ministry deal has varied widely demographically for the Midwest. One congregation worshiped in a mall in a small city. The other congregation has men who come to worship in cowboy boots and hats, and flannel shirts. I have seen only a few places more empty and isolated--maybe Eastern Nevada, SE Oregon, or Wyoming. My friend Theobilly suggested the latest congregation should show up in my novel.
In the midst of this varied activity, I get to stay home and watch my children grow up. We talk all day.
Novel ideas will arrive on a later post.
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