Is it going the way of the dodo bird? Some think so.

It is the family that lives on one income, with father earning the subsistence and mother remaining at home to spend full time nurturing and teaching the children.Not too long ago such a family was regarded as typical of Americana. But over the last three decades or so, conventional wisdom has shifted. Today, a family getting by on a single income is widely considered an unrealistic - if not impossible - ideal, given the complexities of today's economy.

Yet such an attitudinal trend runs counter to prophetic counsel.

President Ezra Taft Benson said that an able-bodied husband is expected to be the breadwinner, with the wife having claim on her husband for her maintenance.

"This is the divine right of a wife and mother," he said. "While she cares for and nourishes her children at home, her husband earns the living for the family, which makes this nourishing possible." (From a talk given at October 1987 general conference.)

In emphasizing the divine roles of father and mother, President Benson echoed previous Church presidents and quoted extensively from President Spencer W. Kimball, who said: "No career approaches in importance that of wife, homemaker, mother." (From comments at San Antonio Fireside, Dec. 3, 1977.)

More recently, President Gordon B. Hinckley sustained the position President Benson took, adding: "Nevertheless, I recognize, as he recognized, that there are some women (it has become very many in fact) who have to work to provide for the needs of their families. To you I say, do the very best you can. I hope that if you are employed full-time, you are doing it to ensure that basic needs are met and not simply to indulge a taste for an elaborate home, fancy cars and other luxuries. The greatest job that any mother will ever do will be in nurturing, teaching, lifting, encouraging and rearing her children in righteousness and truth." (From a talk given at October 1996 general conference.)

Ideal though that may be, is it feasible to support and rear a family on one income?

Consider the case of Mark and Markel Wheldon. Parents of three and members of the Kleinwood Ward, Cypress Texas Stake, they met as students at Utah State University and married in the Salt Lake Temple in June 1990. He is a former elders quorum president who teaches the Blazer class in Primary, and she is a ward Relief Society secretary.

After graduation, they moved to Texas where he went to work as a computer programmer and she as an elementary school teacher.

From the outset of their married life, it was foregone for both that when their first child came, she would quit her job.

"It was something I had always planned on doing," she said. "That's just the way I felt it should be."

How have they managed it?

"With planning," Brother Wheldon said.

It was two years before eldest child Rachael was born. The Wheldons budgeted their income carefully.

"During that time, we looked upon Markel's income as extra money," Brother Wheldon explained. "We lived on my money, and we saved a lot of Markel's, so we were able to buy a house right after Rachael was born, using the money we'd saved from her income as a down payment."

Sister Wheldon emphasized that it has been difficult to get by on a single income. "A lot of the things we do make it possible," she said. "We've always tried to live within a budget."

Brother Wheldon added: "We've seldom had credit card debt. In the eight years we've been married, we've paid maybe $200 in interest other than for a car payment and mortgage. That's saved us a lot of money.

"And we make a menu at the first of each month, so that we can buy most of our food purchases during one trip to the grocery store, so we don't impulse buy."

Sacrificing some of the luxuries of life helps make the budget work.

"We don't have cable," he said. "That kills me, because I'm a big sports fan, but we've learned to do without."

And after Rachael's birth, the couple were determined to pay off their first car before acquiring another.

"Markel sometimes would drive me to work and then drive me home. And sometimes, she'd be stuck at home without a car. That was a tough time for her, with a new baby, but we just didn't want to take on the debt, so we did without."

Their formal living room remained empty for five years as they waited until they could afford to pay cash for furniture.

"And when Rachael and Katelyn were babies, most of their gifts for birthdays and Christmas I would buy at garage sales," she said. "We rarely bought anything new."

Scrimping and creative spending notwithstanding, the Wheldons are convinced their resolve would not have succeeded without the elements of faith and prayer.

From the first, they paid a full tithe.

"And when we were first starting out with children, we prayed that I would be given opportunities to earn extra cash while being at home, and I promised that I wouldn't ever turn down those opportunities if the Lord gave them to me," Sister Wheldon recalled. As a result, she picked up extra money by tutoring and baby sitting.

Blessings have already come, the Wheldons say, not the least of which is peace of mind. "When the First Presidency proclamation on the family came out, it was a confirmation to us that we had been doing the right thing," Brother Wheldon said.

"I guess we've never really questioned it because it's hard. We've just done it, and it's worked out for us. Markel said we would have done it no matter what, but we also realize, with an understanding of money, that a second job really wouldn't bring in enough extra income to make it worth it." That is often the case when one considers job-related expenses, often difficult to identify and track, such as higher income taxes, extra clothing, transportation, lunches and rushed shopping.

For the Wheldons, the reward in not relying on two incomes is in blessings from the Lord, often intangible and unexpected.

In preparation for a Church News interview, they compared their recent tax return with one from two years ago. He changed employment recently, and they were surprised to find that, considering bonuses and stock-option plans, their income nearly doubled in two years. While that may not happen in every case, it illustrates how the Lord can open the way to accomplishing a righteous desire.

"We're expecting that a lot of our blessings will be in the future, as we see the results of Markel staying home with the children," he said.