Report card

It has been six months since I quit my job. Again, the reasoning was four-fold. I wanted to get out of off price retail management for a while. I wanted to spend more time with my family. I wanted to pursue some sort of business. And finally, but by no means the least, I wanted to trust God for daily needs.


So, here is how it is going. A person looking from the outside at my situation would probably score me a fail. That would be in a pass/fail system as well as the graded system. And even if they graded me on a curve the score would be an F.

I am going to give me a C-, or slightly below average. I believe two of the four things are being accomplished. It is true that I am not working in off price retail at the moment. It is true that I am spending more time with my family. Sometimes the together time is mixed in with activities of and with others. It feels like we are always doing something and have different obligations. There have been funerals, weddings, baby showers, doctor’s visits, meetings, and sundry other things. Not bad, but busy. We have had our evenings together and that is a great thing. Working retail requires have the late shift during the week. So, by the time I would arrive at home, my boy was in bed and my wife was winding down. I still needed some time to strip off work mentality and put on home mentality.

The pursuit of a business has not materialized. I have done some prep work, but overall there hasn’t been much motivation for that. I think I am doing well as a “house husband”, and that could be debatable, but there isn’t the time I thought I would have to invest in a business creation.

And then there is the trusting God part. It sounds so great and confident as I audibly explain it to friends and family. Every time I talk about the process, I get excited and a burst of determination kicks in and off I go. But I still worry about unexpected expenses and the timeline when all of our reserve money is depleted. Getting the car fixed, a doctor visit, a leak in the house either takes some money or prepares to take some money.

God, however, has been good. We, by no means, have gone without. But part of the trust issue is this: when a crisis occurs or circumstances change will we still have the same attitude and confidence that we are being looked after? It is fine as long as things go according to “schedule”, but when we notice a chink in our armor, will we still stand strong?

So, six months in, and what do I have to show for it? That I cannot answer. I do have perfect attendance and a C- for the course.