Hearts at Home Week | Day 2

We're going to spend today getting to know Jill Savage, founder of Hearts at Home.

1. Growing up, did you ever see yourself as a mother – better yet, a professional mother? Please explain.

I had one goal in mind growing up…I wanted to be a music teacher. That’s how I envisioned my professional aspirations. I did see myself as a mother, but I felt that a teaching career would work well with motherhood (summers home, same schedule as school age children, etc)

2. Your organization’s purpose is to help mothers love their lives. Why is motherhood often looked down upon in today’s society?

I think we associate money with value. When a mother contributes to the family in a non-monetary way, we have wrongly assumed that the contribution isn’t as valuable as a monetary contribution.

3. Should a bright, intelligent, educated and professional young woman shy away from being a wife and mother if, in her heart, she desires to be?

We have the most educated generation of mothers we’ve ever had. We have more mothers with college degrees than any other preceding generation. That makes the decision to solely be a wife and mother an even harder decision to make. I believe however, that full-time motherhood is a valid career choice. A woman who desires to be at home for a season of time is not throwing her education away. As the founders of the former Mothers at Home group used to say, “She is simply applying her good mind and exceptional skills to the nurturing of her family.” And that is valuable!

4. How do you run an international ministry and still be the mother you’re instructing others to be?

15 years ago when Hearts at Home had our first mothering conference, we were expecting about 500 moms to attend. When 1100 mothers from 10 states showed up we realized that what we meant for a one-time event, God meant for the birth of a ministry. One of my early prayers was, “Lord, if this is going to be bigger than my vision, you have to send me many moms to make the work light.” God has answered that prayer over and over again. We have over 150 moms and about a dozen dads that serve the Hearts at Home ministry year-round. They each take one little piece of the puzzle and do their job well. I may be the most visible voice and face of the ministry, but home is still my priority.

5. What is the meaning of the name “Hearts at Home?”

There are so many good things that a mom can do---not just in the workplace, but also in the volunteer arenas. Before we know it, our heart is tugged in so many different directions. We encourage women to keep their heart at home---making their family their first priority---because we only have one chance to raise our kids.

6. Why must mothers make sure that their hearts are at home?

Most of us don’t realize just how fast our kids grow up. In the blink of an eye your kid moves from a Happy Meal to Value Meal #9! When you keep your heart at home, you make the most of this unique season of motherhood.

7. Does this mean you discourage mothers from working outside the home? How do you respond to those who do?

Hearts at Home makes no judgment call on those who work outside the home. We do, however, know that women who consider motherhood their profession need a cheerleader and that’s what we’re able to be for them. They also need quality resources that help them be the best wife and mother they can be. Honestly, though, most of the resources available through Hearts at Home would encourage any mom and we have a lot of working moms that attend our conference events and tap into our resources.

8. Why is a healthy marriage so important? In other words, why must you be a wife first and a mother second?

My husband and I are self-described as being married 25 years, 15 of them happily. That’s because we made a mistake in the early years that many couples make. We wrapped our lives around our children…and just about ruined our marriage. What we eventually learned as we sought out counseling to bring healing to our hurting relationship, was that the best gift we could give our children was a strong marriage. This gives our kids the stability they long for and assures us that our marriage has more in common than our children who will someday grow up and leave home. We’ve come to learn that taking intentional time to nurture and grow our marriage away from the children is the most loving act of parenting we can actually do.

9. How do you become the “intentional” mom that your family needs? What exactly does it mean to be intentional about motherhood?

Being intentional is about deliberately using the moments we are given with our children. It’s about being proactive rather than reactive. An intentional mom has a vision for her family and home environment and she pursues that with purpose and goals.

10. What’s one of the best gifts you’ve received from one of your children over the years?

It would have to be a picture of my teenage daughter with her arms spread wide and this message printed on the picture: “I am so grateful for all the years you have invested in my life. Thank you…for taking care of me when I was sick…for crying with me when I needed to cry…for loving me even when it was incredibly hard…for being patient with me when you probably wanted to yell at me…for spending time with me when I needed it most…for listening to me when I felt like no one could hear me…and for not giving up when times were hard.”

She gave that to me after an incredibly hard season of her teenage life. It made all the challenges of mothering in that season worth it!

11. What universal, unchanging piece of advice would you give to all mothers?

In the words of my dear friend Charlene Baumbich, “Don’t miss your kids…they’ll be gone before you know it!”

We can’t go back and raise our kids again. We’re presented the opportunity just once. Use this season to the fullest and keep your heart at home.

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Today's question:

What is the hardest thing about being a mom?

For each person that leaves a comment on my blog (under any of the Hearts at Home posts this week) will be in the drawing for one of the books that is available at the conference. How cool is that? Each day this week I will be asking a question for you to answer and on October 5th I will be drawing one of those names and posting it here on the blog (Each day there is a new question for you to answer...that means you have 4 chances to win!) The winner will get to choose which of these three books she would like: The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized by Karen Ehman, Facing Every Mom's Fears by Allie Pleiter, or Is There Really Sex After Kids by Jill Savage.

**please note - I don't know all my readers personally, so if you have any doubt, be sure to link with your e-mail address...and don't post anonymously otherwise it will be hard for you to win. I will be posting the winner's name here on the blog on October 5th, so be sure to check back!

Conference Dates:
Oct 3-4, 2008 Grand Rapids, Michigan
Nov 7-8, 2008 Rochester, Minnesota
March 13-14, 2009 Bloomington, Illinois
hearts-at-home.org