June 26, 2008

Hi,
Someone asked me this week why I work from home.  Not what do I do but WHY I do it.  I'd like to share some of my reasons with you.

Why do I Work from Home?

As I looked back over the last three years that I have worked from home, I can imagine how different they would have been if I had been out working somewhere.  Now, let me say right off the bat that I am not "against" working at a job outside the home.  I realize that some of you have no choice.  Sometimes, too, it's necessary to work at a job while you are building up you business.  I am just sharing with you what my experience has been.

My dad had some health problems for the past few years.  There were many times that he called me and sounded so weak that I ran right over to see him and be with him.  He always perked up after I got him talking.  Living alone, he had a lot of time to sit there and worry about what was going on.  It always helped him to have someone to talk with, if nothing more than to take his mind off his problems.

If I was working a regular job, I couldn't do that, unless it happened to be a weekend when he needed me.  Now that my dad is gone, I treasure that time, and am so happy that I was able to be there for him.  My home business allowed that.

My daughter has had her own struggles over the past few years, and has needed some extra love and reassurance.  Running a home business, I have been able to be there for her when she needed to talk or when she needed to go somewhere and wanted me to be with her.

She and I are very close, even after all those rebellious teen years:-)  I think our relationship has grown so close because she has felt that she was a priority to me.  I love her dearly, and I believe she knows that.  This is time spent that I will never regret. 

Sometimes my business didn't go as planned.  I may have intended to get certain things done that were on "my schedule" but, as it turned out, God had other things He wanted me to do.  Having a home business lets me be flexible and go and do what He wanted me to.  Like yesterday......

Yesterday, my daughter and I went over to my niece's house to talk to her about salvation.  She and I had been communicating by email for a while, and she had a lot of questions about what we believed.  She has not read the Bible, and had many questions about the afterlife and how to get there.

We spent the afternoon with her, answering her questions, and sharing our faith with her.  She didn't make a decision right then and there, but I know she's thinking about it.  She and I had similar discussions when she was a senior in high school (she is now 33 and the mother of twins.)  Will this be the time she gives her life to God?  I don't know, but I am so glad to have had a chance to be there for her and share my faith with her.

Again, working from home, we were able to work around her schedule and what worked best for her.  We went when her kids were napping and she was able to focus on what was being said.

These are a few of the reasons why I feel so blessed to be able to work from home.  Yes, I love what I do.  But having a close family has always been a high priority to me, and having a home business has allowed me to nurture family relationships.

Early next week, I'll write with yet one more important reason that I work from home.