Should I Work Outside the Home While My Kids Are in School?

Q: I’m conflicted about working outside the home when I have small children still in elementary school. If I give up my income, my husband and I may not be able to continue the lifestyle our children profit from; and doesn’t it seem a waste of my education? — P.D.

A: By necessity or by desire, more women are working today outside the home than ever before. Many feel guilty about leaving their children in the care of others. Many women must work to support themselves and their children, but many devote more time to their careers than they do to their family life.

To paraphrase the Bible, what shall it profit a man (or a woman) who gains the whole world but loses his or her own family? What achievement in life is equal to a happy home and family? Every material goal, even if it is met, will pass away. But the investment of influence in the home is timeless.

Someone has said that our children are our legacies. They will tell others who will never know us who we were. More importantly, our children have been entrusted to us by God, children made in His image and for whom Christ died. Our primary responsibility is not to make sure they have the best clothes and live in the best houses. It is to make sure they grow up in homes where God is present and the love of Christ reigns so that they will come to know God through His Son.

Children do need the guidance of their parents and are guided more by the example parents set. Children are in the home only a few short years. Every parent needs to consider carefully the impact of their influence.

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

(c)2020 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.