Just how much do you think I would have to get paid in order to pay to put all of my children (including a nursing baby) into daycare, plus pay the bills?
When we stocked our pantry before, my husband was making $120,000 a year on commission. Now he makes $44,000 a year.
And yet, we still have food to eat. My children are clothed. We have not had to go on public assistance, nor do we plan to.
I live in the city with the second highest unemployment rate in the country. It's not easy to get a job here. I suppose I could work as a dealer in the casino instead of staying home, nursing a baby, and teaching my children. I could send them to the public school where the test scores are at 49% in all subjects in the 4th grade; in the sgtate that ranks 49th in education in the country.
Or--I could teach them something. They could learn with someone who has a degree, instead of a permanent sub from the Philippines with only a high school education, as are many of our teachers here.
If you check my speaking schedule, you'll see that I'm not speaking all the time; I take about 3 hours (including driving both ways) every other month. When I speak, or when I host garden tours, it's for free. Sure, I could charge for all of it, but that's not the point. The point is service.
The point of my website is to serve others who are struggling financially.
Perhaps you think I'm paying a great deal to have my site. I signed up with a hosting service that hosted my site for free for the first year. After that, it is $15 a year. I'm coming up on the third year real soon, so I'll have to pay another $15.
As far as continuing to have children--that's a decision between us and the Lord. I find that when we do what God would have us do, we're a lot happier. And I wouldn't trade this happy, always smiling new baby for any job in the world.
