Last week my husband, Kevin, started a new job. For the past five years, he's worked as a barista, then store manager, of a certain well-known coffee chain. Now he's a children's ministry director at a church. Quite a difference.

Here are a few things that changed immediately:

• For the first time since we married in September, my husband is in the bed next to me when I wake up. (He used to leave at about 4:30 a.m. as I gave him a groggy kiss and mumbled strange things about needing to call my mom or check the mail — I talk in my sleep.)
• My husband now gets off of work at the same time I do, and since he has a longer commute, he's not at home ready to greet me (or sleeping, as the case may be).
• I don't hear from him as frequently during the day (he used to call me on all of his mandatory breaks and when he got off work in the afternoon).
• Our combined energy level has risen by at least 50 percent, because our quality time in the evening involves two individuals who slept past 6 a.m.
• We're talking more about our shared passion for children's ministry and writing curriculum, which has added a new, invigorating dynamic to our relationship.

Pretty much every change so far is a positive one. But I'm not naive to the fact that we may also encounter not-so-pleasant changes. We're already having to shift responsibilities and roles. He used to be off work by 2 p.m. and could easily run afternoon errands. Now I have to take some of those duties back. I also find myself a bit envious of his work as it is something I am really passionate about as well. And, my husband isn't as available to me during the day.

That said, I believe the benefit of Kevin working a job he truly loves is worth any sacrifices along the way. What about you? How do your jobs impact your relationship? Has a recent job change either alleviated stress or added to it? How have you adjusted?

When you hear that term, what comes to mind?

A couple of days ago I was flipping through some old copies of my grad school alumni magazine. They featured current and former students who'd done well, who had gone on to write books, make waves in government, take on pastorates, receive teaching awards, produce prize-winning films, head up inner city missions, and so on.

And that was just the women.

The message is that "successful women," those whom we should honor for their leadership skills, are those who influence people on a large scale. The more people affected by the alumna, the more successful.

But what about those women who went on to influence a small group of people, and more deeply? What about those women who, with master's degrees in hand, chose to forgo acclaim and take on the humble responsibility of being mere mothers? Who exchanged the temporal significance of a sterile board room for the eternal significance of the family room?

It's enough that my alumni magazine promotes women pastors, a vocation with no biblical precedence. But by remaining silent about the influential role of full-time mother, they imply that such women may not be counted among the "successful."

I know it's a cliche, but perhaps it is so because it's so true: In their last moments, women will likely not regret having spent so few hours working for The Man. They'll regret not having spent as much time as they could with the ones they love. In the case of married women, that's likely to include their children.

It's fine to recognize the success of women outside the home. Let's also recognize the too-overlooked success of those who, as the saying goes, rock the cradle.