Ditch the Joneses/Cathi Brese Doebler

About five years ago I started noticing highly trained women in fields like medicine, business and marketing begin to cut back on their hours. Others arranged for flex time, working long shifts a few days to have other days off. Why? They wanted to spend more time with their families. It’s a bonus for many women to create their own formula for getting the job done -- on their terms. And it’s happening more frequently.

Double incomes are nice when it comes to paying bills, savings, and acquiring a few “extras” in life, but if you’re among the 87 percent of moms who say they’d love to stay home with their kids if they could afford to, please listen to this. Business coach and mom, Cathi Doebler, says it’s possible to find a balance that benefits everyone. She wants to help you spend more time with your kids and still pull in some family income. Doebler is a corporate consultant and trainer whose graduate studies in corporate communication put her on a professional track before her kids came along. After working in the human resources field for 15 years, she wrote Ditch The Joneses. It’s about balancing career and family.

Doebler’s recommendations are as much about managing your money as about gleaning the rewards of participating in the life of the child God has loaned you, even as He guides and blesses that process. Part of the secret to letting go of a mentality that feels compelled to keep up with the Joneses is to follow Colossians 3:2 -- “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” It’s a perspective thing, God gives us children and He fully intends to provide for and protect them through us. How will He do that if we ignore Him to follow the world’s pestering nag that we must have this and do that to live up to other people’s expectations? You’ll hear good information and a compelling argument to figure out how to be more present in your child’s life, without exhausting yourself outside the home.