Transitions

  Have you ever noticed that it is the transition periods in life that seem to be the most difficult to navigate?  Maybe I think that because I am in one of those periods.  My kids are 22, 20, 17, and 15.  Only the youngest is still homeschooling and, while three of them still live at home, they all are very busy with their own lives.  This is a transition time for me.  I’m moving from full time homeschool mom to empty nester.  The big question for me is - what do I do with my moments?  On the one hand, I need to be home.  I still need to clean house, do laundry (although a lot less), make meals (anywhere from 2 to 10 or more people eat dinner at my house each night), keep up with the budget, etc.  I also still need to be there when my high schooler has questions or needs me to correct papers for her.  Everyone in my family still has the “Mom is able to drop everything and do what I need her to right that moment” attitude.  But yet, no one needs me most of the time.  So how do I fill my hours?  Every time I look at volunteering somewhere or even getting a job, someone has a problem and reminds me why I need to be available.  But then I go for days when I have several hours of real boredom.  Then I begin to question whether I am just lazy or if I am tired because of health reasons or if I just need to patiently wait through these years to get to a new purpose.  Transitions.  

I know that the Lord has a plan for each of us.  I am holding on to that truth with both hands.  I also know I’m not alone.  When I went to the once a month Bible study I attend, many of the prayer requests centered around the same idea - “What is my purpose now?”  We all want to glorify God with our moments, but we are all struggling to see what that looks like.  Transitions.  Or maybe just life.  Maybe life is just one big transition made up of many little transitions.  We are, after all, strangers sojourning through the wasteland on our way to heaven.  Maybe, this is why Paul thought lessons on contentment, no matter our circumstances, were so important (Philippians 4:10-13; 1 Timothy 6:6-10).  Yes, we have to be content with our material goods and not crave wealth or power, trusting God to meet all our needs, but we also need to be content in our moments.  So how do we do that?  This is my prayer.  How do I glorify God with my moments? How do I balance being busy with being available?  Does that mean I have to be busy?  Or is busyness its own form of discontent?  Am I being hindered by laziness or fear?  Or am I doing exactly what I need to be doing right now and I need to stop listening to the world’s lies about value and take the time God has given me to pray and be about His work?  I hope you will pray with me because, chances are, you have a lot of the same, or similar, questions and are probably in a transition period right now, too.

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