October 16, 2009
Goodbye Pulpit Helps
This weekend, I will start the desktop publishing of Pulpit Helps magazine. It will be my last.
I found out a few months ago this was coming, and I still haven't emotionally recovered. I loved AMG (parent company) and Pulpit Helps from the time I walked in the door. Which must be a God thing because anyone who has seen the place can tell you, it's just not that lovely.
Despite the decorating, or lack thereof, AMG is a place people can get very excited about. They do the child sponsorship, they have leprosy clinics in India where a leper is considered an outcast and not worth feeding, they have newspaper evangelism in places that are unsafe for missionaries, and a whole host of other missions. One very impressive business structure they had that, in my opinion, put them heads above other ministries is their use of for-profit subsidiaries to pay the overhead. This means that between 95-100% of the contribution dollars actually go towards the supported ministry. Most ministries have the right to brag if that number is 80%. I hadn't worked there long when I decided I just wanted to retire from there.
Add to that mix the fact that this gave me the opportunity to branch into a whole new career field that I enjoyed more than I ever thought I could enjoy work - graphic design. I would also have to describe my first boss as my favorite boss ever, and my second boss as my second favorite boss ever. And finally, there's the fact that this job allowed me to work from home after the birth of Mandy. In all honesty, it felt like I was a stay-at-home mom with a hobby rather than a working mother.
I am going to miss AMG and Pulpit Helps tremendously. I've never bonded with an employer in quite this way. Upon finding out, a very valid fear was that I would have to undergo the major lifestyle change of putting Mandy in full-time daycare. And it didn't take me long of looking for a replacement job to realize, in this economy where all print media is down, that I was probably going to lose the work I love too.
My husband understands very little of this, having never had a career passion, or at least never pursuing one. A job's only validity to him is its ability to pay the bills. He's raised two kids in daycare and just accepts that working parents put their kids in daycare - it's just that simple to him.
I find myself still praying God will save it all somehow. I guess I haven't moved to the "acceptance" stage of grief.
I did accept a job last night that has many positive aspects. It's another Christian magazine, this one operated by a woman who I already seem to connect with. The position will allow me to work from home, and while it will take more hours than I was spending on Pulpit Helps, and it will require at least a parents-day-out program twice a week, I will still be spending the majority of my time with Mandy. Now that she's 2, I'm ok with being away from her a few hours a week anyway :) I do have some hesitations. One is that I'm selling advertising rather than desktop publishing. I can do the graphic design no problem - not sure how well I'll do at selling. The other is that it's commission only, so if I don't do well, neither does my family budget. Time will tell.
| By Wifeepoo | 11:04 AM
