I am nervous about returning to work next week. This job is definitely an answered prayer, as we need the extra income for sure. But I worry about balancing work and family life once more. It was impossible to be successful at both when the babies were infants. Twin babies and 3-year-old take all of your energy, attention, and devotion; that is hard to do for a full-time mom, and nearly impossible, I think, for a working mom. Now that the girls are older and becoming more independent, I think it is more manageable. I will miss being at home with them and with Taran too, although I wasn't exactly the model stay-at-home mother. I've definitely gotten better at it as the months have gone by, but most evenings I am ready to put my feet up and pull my hair out! I hope that with less hours spent physically with my kids each day, the hours I do have with them I will treasure more and be able to devote all my energy towards them. I feel like this is how it was with Taran; I hope that the same will work with all three of them. I can only pray for the strength, wisdom, and patience to accomplish this, as well as the logistics (commute time, family routine, and so forth) to work out well. I fully acknowledge that the health of our family life, whether I stay at home or work full time, is dependent upon and because of Christ's grace.