I would shout it out if I could: "Hearts At Home saved my sanity!!" I am not kidding when I say that!

August 2nd, 2007 I went from working 40+ hours weekly to 4 hours 2x/week. It was a choice our family made over a period of 9 months. No, I wasn't pregnant! I was challenged November 2006 by my children: Jenny age 9 and Katie age 5 at the time to stop working and be home for them so they did not have to go to daycare. It took us 9 months to get our finances in order so that going from 2 salaries down to one was not such a shock. 

So in January of 2007, I decided that it was time to start reading and preparing for this dramatic change I was about to make. I bought books on squeezing value out of every penny and how to transition from "Working Mom" to "Stay at Home Mom" (which later found out is called SAHM). And I had heard of an organization called Hearts At Home, but never been to one of their meetings. I had heard their lead speaker - Jill Savage - on the radio, but never thought about attending a conference... until this year. This year was going to require some education, and I figured who better than this organization to give it. They talk about helping our kids maintain their christian walk in this secular world and cooking and Christian ethics as a mom, etc. They surely could get me ready for my big leap of faith! So I called it "Boot Camp".

I signed up online and waited for March to come. Finally the weekend arrived and it was everything I hoped for. The main sessions were spectacular, the classes that I signed up for were just what I needed to hear. I took notes like a courtroom reporter. My college professors would have been so proud! And the trade show... WOW! It was awesome, I must say. As a nurse, I also liked all the little goodies that came along the way like the really cool bags that held our conference literature in them and the basket-shaped box lunches - too cute. Since I was attending on my own - not knowing anyone, I decided to volunteer at the conference to fill some time. After all, I was going to be there two days (most women typically attend one day - but I was committed to getting every drop of knowledge out of this conference!) so I got a surprise - a book written by Jill Savage - in my bag as a volunteer thank you. It was about motherhood being a "profession". That really helped me, because I was concerned that I was going to loose my identity as "Nurse Jamie " when I no longer had that title and was only referred to as "Jenny's mom" or "Katie's mom".

More waiting as August slowly made its way to the top of the calendar.  August 2nd, I said goodbye to my co-workers, knowing that I was still going to have those few hours with them (kind of my security blanket). The children and I enjoyed the last three weeks of summer and it flew by! Then came the season of school...

I got Jenny off to school in the morning, and Katie, my kindergartener, waited until after lunch and then was in school for 2 and a half hours. So for 2.5 hours I had the house all to my self. Now most women would be saying how nice that would be. but not me - I was wringing my hands, realizing I was pacing the floors! I knew I needed to clean the house - something I truly hate to do. But it was so quiet. There was no one there but me and the dog! How long before I could go get the girls from school? I checked the clock several times. I was going crazy!

After about two weeks of this, I decided it was time to write Hearts At Home and tell them a thing or two regarding how I felt about their stay-at-home concept. So I emailed the general address on their website, sobbing, and gave whoever read it an eyeful! The next day, I received a warm, calm response back saying that she had felt similar panic at the start of her SAHM career too, and that I needed to get my plan for the day in order so that when I got up I knew exactly what was going to happen - like an agenda at work. I know it was a "God Thing" because her words on my computer were the salve I needed to heal my panic-stricken, raw nerve endings. 

We corresponded a few more times, and each time, I got better at my new job until I was able to handle things without the frequent email safety net of HAH. (Although I know they are always there for me when I need them.)  At one point she picked up on the fact that I liked to research topics, and found just the right tool I needed to help me make it through my crisis: a reference book to help me with my  issues - and it really did help!

Hearts At Home is for women of all ages - before they have children (to prepare them for what is to come), while they have young ones (to let them know they are not alone in the struggles of peanut butter-covered couches and smeared TV screens), during the teenage years (when they are sure their children are sent from the underworld) and then as women with grown children - watching their offspring go through the stages of mother/fatherhood and thinking back to the day when they were in the same or similar circumstance (and grinning because they finally get to see that the phrase "what goes around comes around" really works)! It is a resource centered in Christ, with Christian values designed to encourage, educate, and equip her in the profession of motherhood. They believe that every woman counts and after 11 years, Hearts At Home has seen many womens' lives changed, couples' relationships rekindled, families revived, and communities improved.  

Every year, HAH has annual conferences in various locations internationally. For more information, go to www.hearts-at-home.org and check them out. You won't be disappointed. It might be the best decision you ever made for your family!