The Husband’s Team

Tracy / February 17, 2006

Good Morning! It’s mid-February, today is a dreary day….I think that we are expecting some bad weather over the weekend. We’ll see…I have to admit the thought of just having even a little snow this year is very exciting!

Prayer requests for today include the Blackwell and Fuchs families who are ill with the flu! I think that the Fuchs family actually just has a little head cold…annoying just the same . Please pray for healing and rest for their families.

Praises today include some progress that my dear hubby has made on a couple of his businesses. It seems sometimes like we are spinning our wheels on trying to start a family business of any kind but I know in my heart we are on the right path and it’s just going to take some time to get there.

I am also thankful for the ease at which my oldest daughter is picking up the new skill we are learning this week, tatting. She definitely seems to be catching on pretty quickly. I have just finished the first of two meetings for our Keepers at Home group where I am teaching the little girls how to tat.

It really is beautiful and adds a nice addition to any finished garment or household item. I have such fond memories of watching my Great Grandmother tat and then seeing all the lace that she made.

I’m thankful too, for the ideas that the Lord is placing in my heart for developing our websites. We really feel like this is supposed to be almost a “Titus 2” place…one where women can learn skills that will develop their creativity and strengthen and enrich their homes.

It is for these things I say “Thank you, Father. You are so very good to us we know that you want the best for your children. Please continue to change and mold us into the people that you want us to be! We give you glory and honor for all. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

On the continuing list of things that I’m learning…

1. Once a sewing machine has fallen off the kitchen table it never sews the same!! : (

2. A 14 year old learning to cook is a good thing! (Now I’m sounding like Martha Stewart here but I’m also enjoying a most wonderful cup of my daughter’s homemade hot cocoa while I’m typing!) Maybe I can get her to share her recipe sometime.

3. A family member called last night. She has ongoing struggles with her current job position. This lesson is hard because I tend to want to fix things for people so that they will be happy. Sometimes there really are no right words to say. People really just need to unload and the best thing that you can do is give them your undivided attention and listen…..and of course, pray.

On the lines of my husband working on his businesses ….we have been on a continuing quest to begin businesses that my husband can build and grow right now, but will be something that can provide us with a legacy for our children.

We believe there is no better place to nurture a child than in the home…a family business provides perfect educational opportunities and allows us to spend additional time with our children where as, if my husband and I were having to work outside of our home we would be away from them. It’s really the best of all worlds!

Let me get straight to the point. I just finished reading So Much More by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin. What an awesome book. One of the things that really touched my heart while reading it was the mention of family businesses and how important a man’s family is in becoming his team. One of the reasons, I believe, that our past ventures have failed have been my lack of participation in seeing to his success. Granted, I can’t take all the responsibility but is it possible that my job extended beyond saying “yea Paul, you can do it!” and really required me to invest some time into what he was doing.

These days, along with my home responsibilities, I find myself writing, researching and making phone calls. My children are even part of his team. Web programming, writing, and organizing information will allow them to earn an income and learn from us the skills they will need to run our business, or perhaps their own one day. We are part of Paul’s team. We are helping him to succeed and in this way:

Proverbs 31:23
Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

(NIV)

Paul is able to provide a living for his family during the day, and work on his business at night but because we are also helping him, I mean really helping him, he is able to duplicate himself and his business is still growing even if he is working for someone else right now. My children are learning great writing and communication skills and we have a fantastic time “researching” (trying out the ideas presented on the website before we post them) and I am encouraged seeing the full and long lasting effects of a family plan well thought out and very well executed.

If your family is thinking or trying to start a family business right now, pray and ask the Lord and talk to your husband about how you might really get involved.


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