Day in the Life...of a mom whose career path deviated

Sarah went to college to become a teacher. She traveled to the Ukraine, combining her love for teaching and other countries. Today she's a day care director at one of the best in her area, working with little children so that she can earn an income and still be a full-time mom to Abi, Caleb, and Jaxon. It's far from the mission she once wrote down as her career path, but she's not only okay with it but she understands it's exactly where she wants to be--for now! Join CML member Sarah Ballard and Suzie as they talk about what happens when your life takes a 180 from what you planned.

Suzie Eller: Sarah, tell us a little bit about where you have lived and what you have done?

Sarah Ballard: During college I spent a summer in Kharkov, Ukraine training college students in how to effectively do campus ministry. It was absolutely one of the most memorable and wonderful experiences of my life! I think I could go back anytime!

And during my spring and winter breaks in college I took several mission trips to places like Jamaica and Honduras with my church, as well as spending two summers in Pensacola, FL discipling and training American college students in campus ministry. After college, and before marriage, I spent a year in Minsk, Belarus teaching six missionary kids. I am forever grateful to the families that took me in without even knowing me and letting me be a part of their lives for a year. Then after my husband and I got married, we spent three years in the Dayton, OH area helping to start a church in a town that had no AG church. That was a real growth experience for both of us!

We moved back to Oklahoma when our daughter was six months old and since then have helped out with the college ministry and facilitated a small group on Sunday mornings as well as joined the choir and even went to Ireland the past two summers on a choir tour. How I would love to live there!!

SE: You have a degree in Secondary Education and even worked in the teaching field. What were your plans?

SB: Other countries quite often want American/English speaking teachers in their schools to teach students English and American culture and it’s a perfect way to get involved in lives that we wouldn’t otherwise ever get to be involved in. And, quite often, the schools that want and employ American teachers are the schools that leaders of foreign countries send their children to. What an awesome opportunity for a teacher to truly influence the world!

SE: Abi, Caleb [pictured], and Jaxon are three of the most adorable kids ever, and they are genuinely sweet kids. You've obviously done an amazing job as a mother. Was it hard to change your focus from your goals and dreams to the lives of your children?

SB: Well, thanks! I just try to do what I was taught by my mom. Since I was little, and especially since college when the Lord starting putting missions and “the world at large” on my heart, I have thought it would be great to raise my children in another country where they have the benefits of being American citizens but also being able to experience other cultures. But, here I am, still in the U.S. and not even teaching so, yeah, I have many moments where I say, “I’m a mom and that’s it?”

It’s so hard to get my eyes off of what’s right in front of my face and onto the big picture, but, thankfully, the majority of the time I’m able to realize the blessing I have in my kids and I do my best to be the mom they need me to be.

SE: Sometimes a moms' role is undervalued. What do you have to say to a mom who has her hands full with motherhood and yet doesn't receive encouragement about the job that she's doing?

SB: Find a fellow mom to talk to and with whom to share general mom struggles. Or, better yet, make a friend of an older woman whose children are grown. I have found that they are really good at reminding me how special and important my time with my kids is because their kids are grown and gone and they are wishing they could have their children back. They’re great at helping me to stay encouraged and focused on what I’m doing.

And if you’re saying, “Who has time to make friends??” it’s time to make friends! Your kids are important but so are you. You need “me time” in order to recharge and refocus so that you CAN be the mom you need and want to be.

SE: How does your faith help you as you trust God with where you are right now, and where you hope to be one day?

SB: Well, when I’m in a good faith place, I can be content with where I am right now or, actually with where I am NOT because I have the assurance that God truly has a perfect plan and hasn’t forgotten about me. I wish I were in that good place all the time but I’m honestly not. So, quite often, it takes effort on my part to remind myself that I’m not forgotten and that there is a big, important reason why I’m where I am. And as I’m patient and faithful, He shows me what He has for me to do right now where I am.

SE: Sarah, as an author I didn't launch my writing and speaking until my late 30's (very late). It was the right time. I see that now. What can we do while we wait on God's timing?

SB: That’s a good question. Do you have a good answer for me? Seriously, I’ll be 35 in three months and it often feels like I’ve missed my chance. I have to consciously remind myself weekly that I haven’t. There’s a song that we have been singing at church lately that really ministers to me. It says, “Nothing is impossible for you ‘cuz you hold my world in Your hands.” It’s a reminder to me that no matter where I am financially or how “tied down” I feel to children or a job or even a current ministry, God is going to get me where HE wants me when it is the BEST time for Him, me, my family, and those He wants me around no matter how old I am or what my circumstances are. When I speak the Truth to myself, I feel faith and peace rise and I become at peace, once more, with my life.

SE: You are one busy lady. Tell us about a typical day in the life of Sarah Ballard.

SB: Well, I’m up early since I have two little “roosters” that rise with the sun and, like most moms, I hit the ground running. My husband commutes an hour to work so he’s out the door pretty early and it’s up to me to get all three kids dressed and out the door, which I try to do with all nerves intact but that rarely happens. And at least twice a week I get a phone call before 7:00 a.m. saying that someone isn’t going to show up for work that day so I have to kick my brain in gear to figure out how to fill the gap. Then it’s off to work with the kiddos, which is the best part of my job!

My parents own two childcare centers and I am the director of one in Muskogee while my sister is director of our center in Ft. Gibson. So, I get to work with my family everyday AND have my children right there where I can see what they’re doing all day. It is a true blessing!

Running the Center requires a lot of planning, organizing, conflict resolution, people skills, and confrontation which I am really trying to get better at. It has truly stretched me in every possible way. We have 77 children, about double that in parents, and 21 employees that I deal with on a daily basis so it’s always interesting. I never know what I’m going to face when I walk in the door and every day is different, which is part of what I like about it. But I am guaranteed a problem with a child, parent, or employee daily that I get through with a lot of prayer.

I try to leave work around 5:00 but it’s usually closer to 5:30 or 5:45 when I finally get out the door and then, depending on the day, it’s either home for dinner, house cleaning, and sleep or off to church for dinner and choir practice then home for cleaning and sleep. Then, we start again the next morning.

SE: You are in love with a guy named Darrin. CML members might not know this, but I got to watch you fall in love with him. Tell us a little bit about Darrin.

SB: Darrin is an incredibly gifted preacher, has great love and understanding of Scripture and is totally at ease with whomever he is around. He finds joy in annoying me which has forced me to learn to relax a bit, though he is also learning when it’s ok to mess with me and when it’s time to steer clear. He has a very generous and tender heart and would honestly give you the shirt off his back and the last dollar in his pocket if you need it.

He also has a great desire to minister in a foreign country but for now goes faithfully to a job that he pretty much hates in order to provide for his family. He had a rough start in life but it has been a joy to get to watch the Lord work in him and mature the gifts in him and I greatly look forward to where He is taking us!

SE: Just for fun. Your favorite food. Your favorite TV show. Your favorite "fantasy day".

SB: Oh boy! Favorite food…well, I have been on a diet for awhile so right now my favorite food is anything totally off my diet that I have no guilt eating. Favorite TV show…shows that Darrin likes to watch with me that we have to DVR and then watch together after the kids are in bed—Life, Chuck, Heroes (we’re about two weeks behind right now on these!).

And favorite fantasy day?? Well, since you said “fantasy” it would be Darrin showing up at work with packed bags and plane tickets in his hands to any destination in the world. He has made all the arrangements for the care of the children and I don’t care at all what is going to happen at work while I’m gone or how much money our little excursion is costing us…I just enjoy the trip even if it’s just overnight. THAT would be a great fantasy day.

SE: Please visit Sarah at her Momlogic page!