AS A WORKING MOTHER OF FOUR CHILDREN under the age of ten, I've found that daily life can sometimes feel like a constant juggling act. My husband and I have both thought deeply about finding harmony in our work and our family obligations. But what I've discovered is that achieving this balance isn't just a one-time challenge that is solved and never again becomes an issue. It's an ongoing process. And I've found that each time I pray about this issue, I get a new perspective that helps me to take the next step in our journey as a family.
Ever since we had our first child, I've been working in some way in my profession as a translator. Becoming a mother and adjusting to my work was a challenge, but there were other big adjustments, too—like moving from Italy, my country, to the United States when our oldest, Samuel, was just a few months old. My husband got a job with a long commute, so I was home most of the time taking care of our son and doing freelance translation jobs. The American culture was so foreign to me—just doing business on the phone was difficult at first. I felt pretty overwhelmed at times, so I really had to lean on prayer to find answers.
In my prayers, I often returned to something a Christian Science practitioner told me when I was expecting Samuel: Responsibility is not our own, but is responding to God, reacting to God—and nothing else. In order to do this, I've found it helpful to listen for and discern the "still small voice" of God. I love the Bible story in which Elijah finds God not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in this "still small voice." See I Kings 19:11, 12. I've found God's voice is gentle and quiet, yet also firm and confident. Listening to this voice—rather than to the clamor of impatience, frustration, or guilt—is the best parenting technique I know of. And it's when I'm listening to this voice that I truly experience the balance I'm seeking.
