15. “She maketh fine linen and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.” Proverbs 31:24

A girdle is like a belt. Maybe a money belt?

Anyway, this woman used her natural home-making skills to begin a business.

My imagination at work here again; I picture her making these linen clothes and girdles during her spare time (after her little ones were a little older) when all the sewing and mending for her family was done.

Now, many believe that a woman in today's society only has two choices, work outside the home for money or stay in the house all day and watch TV. I have even heard housewives called "leeches!"

First of all, just because a woman is home does not mean she has a negative impact on the family finances. In fact, I have heard of many families that figured how much the mom was bringing home minus the cost of her working (more expensive clothes, more convenience foods, more gas, more daycare, higher tax bracket, etc) and found out they would be ahead financially if she quit her outside job and handled things at home.

I saved my family around $15,000 per year in day care alone when we had three pre­schoolers. Private school for the other five would easily have added another $20,000.And financial counselors will tell you saving $1 is the same as earning $3 by the time you figure taxes and work expenses.

So, many women "bring money in" by not letting it go out of the home in the first place.

Then there is the possibility of, like Sarah here, bringing in a little from what we are already doing.

An Important Note: A woman with only little kids at home ALREADY HAS A FULL TIME JOB. She needs to focus on surviving these very hard years and not worry about making money, even if it means living in American poverty (which is still in the top 80% income bracket in the world).  The home and children ARE her job AND her mission field rolled into one. No woman should ever feel guilty for not doing more than caring for her family when all her children are under 9, especially if she is also homeschooling. Only after the babies are more grown up should she start looking for other ministries or work.

Do you notice that first her family is cared for, and then she embarks on a home business? That business is just an extension of her homemaking.

One noted author said if you want a home based business you;

• first pray for God's guidance, 
• then list those things you enjoy doing (eating chocolate, sewing, baking), 
• list the things that bug you (there are no decent little girl swimsuits in the stores, you can't buy sugar and white flour free bread), 
• and work on improving your skills and increasing your knowledge for what you need to do today for your family.

I see how this works. When my children are old enough to leave me time for money making, I will have fully developed skills in bread baking, sewing, bathroom cleaning, tutoring, art, music, natural medicines, and many other areas. I will be ready to put those skills to use in some way to serve others and/or add to the family coffers in a more tangible way.

I do find it hard to wait though. There are days I feel like a leech and that the children are receiving less than best care; while other women are working and caring for their families.

But when I look closer I often see that they either have no little children, are not homeschooling and have their kids tossed to a daycare worker for the majority of the day, or are so frazzled they can't enjoy life, much less be a good mom when they are with their kids.

I know of one woman who is writing books left and right, is a part time college professor and, goes on speaking engagements, is worship leader in her church and homeschools. How does she do it? Simple, her (retired) mother lives next door and her husband is also a part- time college professor. In other words, she doesn't do it all. She lets others help. Her mom and Hubby help do the teaching.

Andy works overtime every day so I can take care of our children. I consider his job a God-send. He does a good job providing what we need. My parents live twenty minutes away and are working full time for God. So since I handle nearly all the teaching and housework I am probably not doing any less than this other woman. My work just doesn’t look as impressive on paper.

God has called our families to different ways of accomplishing the same things.

The point is we need to make wise, thought out decisions and trust God to provide.

When I get to feeling like I should get a job is usually when I get to looking at all the things we don't have. I begin to feel like absolute paupers.

No, the thing to do is keep my eyes on God and what we do have. Then I can be content and enjoy this time of life. Someday I will "sell girdles to the merchants." But not today. Today I will play with my babies instead. That’s more important.