Double Duty

I am definitely learning the struggles of being a Mom and a Deaconess at the same time. I absolutely love both of them, but this is the most intense juggling act I've ever done.

For those of you who don't know, I am a part/full time Deaconess at a church in Iowa. I try to average about 30 hours of work a week. And get in as much time with my son as I can. I always wanted to be a stay-at-home-mom, so I am reluctant to give much of that up to anyone else! Fortunately, our pastor's wife lives right up the hill from church and is the *perfect* candidate to watch Seth when I can't.

Our church has been very gracious in letting me take Seth with me to work when I want to. They are more concerned with the end result (have I gotten the newsletter out? Was I able to run choir practice successfully? etc.) than how I got there. So Seth has been able to see everyone at church during the group meetings. He has taken naps in my office. Our Office Manager gets her baby-fix and likes to hold him once in a while. She has 3 kids of her own, so she has mastered the art of one-handed working as well.

This has taught me to work both slower and faster. Sometimes things just take longer than I'm used to! But other times, like during nap time, I need to get in gear and work work work!

When Seth is awake, I try to focus as much of my attention as possible on him. That's the fun part. I'm working on finding the balance of being able to get my work done while he's asleep or with his baby-sitter.

Trying to do it all is quite an adventure.


:)

What my sleeper looks like when I'm working.