New Columnists – MariLee Parrish

Hi Everyone!

My name is MariLee Parrish and I would like to take a moment to introduce myself. I am so excited about this great opportunity to write a weekly column about Faith and Business for all of you wonderful Christian moms! The column will be published every Friday beginning August 21st and will be called Faith and Business 101.

Where to begin? I have worn a lot of hats over the years, so here goes: Being the oldest daughter of a successful business man, I have always loved good hard work! I was born a natural leader and was forever the kid organizing garage sales, bake sales and lemonade stands. My friends laugh when I tell them that I even had my own “school bus” business. In elementary school I would go to the store and buy a ton of candy. I would take it on the bus and mark up the price a little bit bringing home a tidy sum! Ever the entrepreneur, this type of stuff continued my whole life! I began teaching voice and piano lessons while working for a Christian bookstore during college. I graduated from college with a degree in Music and a concentration in business. I had fully committed my life to Christ the summer before High school started and since that time, my desire has always been for Christ to be the very center of everything. My life. My relationships. My business.

After graduating from college, I married my High School sweetheart and we settled down in a small Ohio town. I worked for a construction company for a time, then I became the Office Manager for an insurance company and then God led me to a church staff position. I was a Worship Leader and Creative Arts Director for 4 years, thankful to finally be using my gifts and talents to serve the Lord in a job that I was truly passionate about. I was writing a lot of worship songs during those days (I still continue to write music, but it is rather difficult to construct a truly worshipful song with a 2 year old who is either napping or trying to pound on the keyboard right next to me!) and happy to be using the creative arts to help people connect with God in real and relevant ways.

In 2004, My husband Eric and I felt like God was leading us in an entirely new direction. Eric landed a job in Colorado and we moved west.

I started working for an insurance company again and began writing more. I also worked as a Site Director for a Before-and-after school program. I became pregnant that year and started getting very sick…which continued throughout almost the entire pregnancy, ending with complete bed-rest due to High Blood Pressure. We needed 2 incomes to pay the bills so I was prayerfully searching for other avenues to bring in some money at home. Boy, did I sift through a ton of scams. After months and months of searching for work-from-home jobs, I devised a plan that worked for me. I came up with a way to earn multiple streams of income from home. I started making and selling crafts and baked goods, I started an ebay business selling refurbished blackberrys and I had my first devotional published! My son was born in April 2007 and I have been working from home full time since I was 6 months pregnant.

I have since founded and created a website called Really Working From Home: Christian Resources for Christian Mom s (www.reallyworkingfromhome.com).

So that’s the long and the short of it. In the coming months I hope to share about Faith and Business. As Christian working moms (whether you work at home or at an office) you cannot run your business, your life or your home…without FAITH!

I look forward to getting to know each and everyone of you. We ALL have something that we can share and I’m really looking forward to learning more from each of you!