Temporary Scarcity--Adjustments

Remember back when you had only one child and you thought it was so hard and wondered how you would ever manage two and then you adjusted to a second and wondered what you used to do all day with only one? Moms have an uncanny ability to adjust to the circumstances around them. Though at this point I still wonder how moms with huge families do it and I wonder how we'll keep up with homeschooling during that stage of life, I have learned that I will grow, and I will adjust as I depend on the Lord and we will get through it and will be fine.

My husband's injury caused me to rise to a new level. After a month of dealing with it, I have adjusted and have learned that I can get done more than I ever thought possible, even though before I felt like a work-a-holic. Since King Jo broke his wrist and got really sick with a cold virus, I have shouldered more of the load with the kids than I had before, at times feeling like a single parent. I have had to spend lots of time thinking over, talking over, mailing forms and keeping track of bills, insurance, etc. Between Potty-Training, Cloth Diapering, having lots of company over, and getting ready for a wedding, I never have even the slightest chance to be bored! God has opened the door for me to bring in extra money through lots of babysitting, cooking a weekly supper for pay for my folks, and even a sewing project!

Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know that babysitting other people's kids isn't my favorite thing to do, unless I we are having a play date or I'm helping some friends out. But my mentality has changed. Perhaps a huge part of it is that we have a bigger-feeling (if not actually bigger) home now and a huge yard and such warm weather this winter. Instead of hating every minute of babysitting, I have adjusted to where it is just part of life for right now and I am grateful for the chance to bring in a little money during a lean time. It does help that the two girls I watch (one at a time--from different families) are very quiet, sweet, and play well with my kids!

This hard time has caused us to grow in frugality as well, which is a very good thing to always be growing in during this tough economy and the possibility of job loss or scarcity. We were frugal before, but now we are ULTRA frugal and are always finding ways to do things ourselves or scrimp and get inventive using things up that we already have. To be honest, I have enjoyed the challenge of having to get by on less and it has caused me to grow in creativity. *Of course if our budget was so low that I couldn't make it work or afford necessities it would be awful and painful. I can say this because we are not in extreme poverty, just in a lean time*

Life is much busier for me now but I have grown from it. I was complaining to my friend a couple of weeks ago that it was such a hard adjustment to have to get up early with the kids and get them breakfast after being spoiled by my hubby doing it for my entire pregnancy and beyond to let me get an extra half an hour of sleep. As I was talking to her I realized I must sound like such a whiner since she has always done that, as well as working a 30-hour a week job, running kids to and from the sitter's, getting up at 5 a.m. to exercise, and shouldering most of the parenting and all of the cleaning too. I have it so easy compared to so many women, whether outside-the-home-working mamas and single mamas here or mamas overseas who are desperately trying to feed starving kids or keep their kids alive in times of war.

When times of strain come along from some kind of life change, I like to see it as strength training or weight lifting. Your body may only be able to lift a little at first, but as you go along you build more muscle and can lift more...and more.....and more...

All of life is "school." With each child that comes and with each circumstance I go through I have the opportunity to lean on God more, build endurance, become more disciplined, be more creative, learn how to be more efficient, work smarter, and give up the good for the better.