You’ve heard me talk about it for the past few weeks. And it’s finally here!!!
My new idea to invite you, the listener, on the show. To share your story, your specific struggle to stay God-centered.
We can all echo “that’s me”. . .identifying with you and coming alongside one another.
And as a bonus, I’ve called on a mentor/author/expert to share advice, coming from a place of “that was me!” or “that’s me, too!”
This week our ‘guinea pig’ guests are Annette and Rachel.
In this episode, Annette and I chat for the first half of the show. She had emailed me about balancing working part-time with raising three very young girls. She also felt disconnected from her husband who is self-employed and has to work a lot as a result.
With Annette’s permission, I reached out to my friend, Rachel Anne Ridge. Rachel is a mom to three grown children. She and her husband have experienced many years of self-employment. Rachel found herself going back to work when she really wanted to stay home and homeschool her children. She also has a super practical blog with great housekeeping tips for those of us “less organized” folks.
Rachel’s reassuring, calming voice and wise perspective is good for us all. No matter what your work-life balance looks like, who doesn’t need some good tips on handling laundry and clutter?
(Rachel also owns a donkey. It’s true. She wrote about it in her book, “Flash: The Homeless Donkey Who Taught Me about Life, Faith, and Second Chances
I’m super duper excited to share this new feature episode with you. There are more “that’s me” episodes in the works. Please, please let me know if you enjoy this one and if it helps you in any way.
Connect with Rachel Anne Ridge:
Site :: Facebook :: Twitter :: Instagram
What we chat about:
Annette’s Questions:
- Are you the kind of mom who needs a “something else”?
- Is staying home for a season an option?
- How do we handle frustration when husband is home but working/occupied?
- Is investment only a term we can use for finances?
- What are some ways to connect with a husband who works a lot?
- How can we stop operating from a place of fear and self-reliance?
- When moms who work outside the home have “free time” how do they choose between house work and work-work?
Rachel’s Answers:
- Committing to pray for the situation
- Compromising to come to a solution
- Writing out the specifics to determine your ROI (return on investment)
- Considering the emotional needs of each spouse
- Lowering your standards when life is full
- Creating a simple housekeeping schedule and basket/drawer in each room
- Prioritizing your alone time to regroup
- Finding common interests as a couple
Links Mentioned:
- Sabbath post
- Kathi Lipp and her organization book
- Previous Interview with Rachel Anne Ridge (Ep 13)
- What happens to our minds when we get distracted by email —post by Ann Voskamp
- Rachel’s “Real World” Housekeeping Schedule
- The funny tweets that bonded my hubby and I, and left me laughing so hard my stomach hurt the next day.
**Amazon Affiliate Link
How to listen to the podcast:
1.Listen on the blog. Click through to GodCenteredMom.com and click the play button at the beginning of this post.
2. Listen on your smartphone, iPad or iPod Touch – There are a lot of great podcasting apps. Apple has a free one (that I mentioned) in the app store, there is also one called Downcast. It allows you to search for shows, subscribe to them and even speed up the audio. If you don’t have an iDevice, you can listen via Stitcher.
What came to mind after listening to Annette’s story is that she actually works more than 2-3 days a week. It sounds like she works three days a week (Monday and Wednesday and sometimes on Friday in the school), but then she also has to do some work outside of the school setting. Perhaps she can take stock of how many additional hours are truly required to do her job and hire a baby sitter one morning a week to do what’s necessary (instead of just working nonstop even when she’s with her girls).
Just a thought! Loved the episode!
That’s a really good idea Sarah. I’ve entertained the idea of basically having a sitter scheduled for every Friday, regardless if I have a teacher training or not. Then I can plan on doing all work stuff on Friday mornings. I struggle the idea of being away from my girls more than I already am… but then again, this could improve the quality of the time that I am actually with them.
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts!
Thank you for so many important and encouraging thoughts. I am new to the podcast and I love it. My personal struggle is convincing my husband that there is value in me working. Since I stayed home for so long, he is quite comfortable in our previous routine. (We have 3 little boys and his job requires travel.) I love my (two day a week) nursing job but the hours are long and it can be very draining. Like the other moms, I feel out of balance sometimes, as if I am not doing any of my jobs well. Any tips for moms who want to find a good rhythm working and mothering?