Priorities

I have a professional degree, I spent 8 years in school and was six figures in debt then spent the next 7 years working 60 hour weeks paying it off.  The last year of that we adopted our son as an infant and I never saw him.  Then I lost my job and we moved to another state so my husband could actually pursue his career.  Now I'm a mostly stay-at-home mom and we adopted again.  I thought I could be the professional woman with a family on the side, but I can't, I'm a mom with a side job.  People look at me funny though when I say I'd rather be home with the kids than off pursuing my career, as if it is far more socially acceptable to work so I can pay someone else to watch my kids than to raise them myself.  I've been the career woman and it leaves you empty and cold.  Your coworkers and boss and colleagues don't care about you or your life unless it interferes with your work.

Kids are stubborn, noisy, messy, destructive, frustrating, and often inconvenient, but so am I and so are you, it comes of being human.  But amidst all that, there's a joy, a fun, a mirth, a purpose, a contentment that 10,000 years of being at the top of my profession could never equal.  And no, pets don't even come close.  You are raising a person, shaping an individual that will last forever, a very shaper of destiny, what could be cooler or more epic than that?

It is rather a sad commentary on our culture that says work is more important than family, busyness better than relationships.  When I was a kid, daycare was a sad necessity but now I'm weird because my kids don't go!  But to paraphrase C.S. Lewis, none of that matters, it will all fade to nothing, only souls last forever.  Other people are the greatest investment of your time and talents, at least if you are looking for eternal dividends!  And even if you don't have your own kids, you can be a positive influence in the lives of the kids in your extended family, church, or neighborhood and let's not forget to thank all the teachers, daycare providers, coaches, etc. that touch so many young lives too!