Dear Homemaker, love Jennifer L. Scott

To my fellow homemakers. Oh, what I would have you know… I’ve been a homemaker for well over a decade now. My husband, Ben, and I have been married for 14 years and we have four children ranging in age from 9 to 1.

If you would have told me I would be a homeschooling, homemaking mother of four I wouldn’t have believed you. I had my sights on the stars. I was an actress, you see, and an aspiring writer. I wanted fame and luxuries and the bohemian life. As you can imagine, my vision didn’t involve self-sacrifice day after day after day.

But God has a funny way of knowing what is actually better for me. And it turns out that His wisdom and plan for my life was something I couldn’t stifle even if I wanted to.

I have always been domestic and have enjoyed the domestic arts. I was just told, like many other women, that those arts weren’t worthy of pursuit. My pursuit of an acting and writing career were much more impressive.

I was one of the first of my friends to get married. My husband is British, and when we were engaged, he wanted to fly me back to England so I could meet the rest of his family. I (typically) booked a “call back” for an important audition the very day we were supposed to fly. And that was the beginning of when I would choose family over career. I declined the call back and stepped forward to meet Ben’s family, but this happened reluctantly and not without wondering… “what if”? “What if?” I had landed a big role? Did I just throw it all away?

It took several years of this “what if?” attitude from me. When I had children, the force was undeniable. I no longer was able to socialize as I wished, and I put my career on the backburner. I threw myself full time into raising a family and the mundanity, and the hard, long hours that met me every day were overwhelming. Can you relate?

But I wish I had known then what I know now. That every hard hour is worth it. That the toil, and the internal struggle, and the wondering were unnecessary. That being a wife and a mom are the best things that have ever happened to me. And that homeschooling my kids and being with them each day and contributing to their growth and character is the most rewarding work I’ll ever do.

I still became an author, by the way… so our dreams do not all have to go on hold. God has a plan for me, and when I choose to flow in His perfect will for my life, I stop swimming upstream.

I hope the same for you.

With love,
Jennifer L. Scott

NY Times bestselling author of LESSONS FROM MADAME CHIC