Frequent readers and friends know that I am the mother of four young children and we’ve just come through “birthday month.” In our little family, there are four birthdays in one month causing cake consumption and introspection to spike dramatically.
With every passing year, birthday month seems to come faster and faster. It reminds me (in a way that is not unlike having a cold glass of water thrown in your face) that time is marching along at a pretty good clip. Life is a fast ride and when you come to a place where you need to make a lane change, you better be ready.
This year, the baby turned one. The last baby. Nine years ago I made the lane change from successful, quick-climbing career woman to mostly stay-at-home mom. Since then, having babies and parenting them has been the focus of this most beautiful and busy stage of my life. In nine years I’ve had four (difficult) pregnancies – think feeding tubes, one miscarriage, and nursed for a total of more than four years. My focus has been clear. Then, all of a sudden, birthday month happened. Now the baby is one, my breasts have officially retired (they aren’t moving to Naples, but sadly, they have headed south) and our family is complete.
Enter transition.
I barely remember the fresh-faced, newly married, childless professional woman from days gone by. Three of my four children are in school and the
A few years ago I took a six-month, very part-time gig at our church filling in for a friend whose husband had taken an international job assignment. It wasn’t supposed to last or lead to anything. In fact, it wasn’t even supposed to register on my life plan. Guess what? I’m still here, just in a different capacity. Guess what else? It’s opened up a whole new side of me and I find myself asking, “How on Earth did I get here?” I’m developing programming, being published in devotionals, facilitating retreats and being fueled by a really cool energy. It’s as if a whole new world of possibility has jumped up and shouted, “Surprise!” It makes me wonder if going off track has led me onto the right path.
Yesterday, my friend, a business psychologist, asked me to help her prepare for an upcoming coaching session by being her guinea pig for a strengths assessment tool. What she didn’t realize was that her “favor” was more like an answer to my prayers. This is exactly what I need at exactly the right time. Maybe it’s the right time for you, too.
Identifying our strengths is a good idea. Honestly assessing what we're good at, what feeds our soul, and how we can incorporate those things into our lives is good spiritual housekeeping. As women, we are usually aware of how we present our physical self to the world and, when things change, we adjust our strategy. We get our haircut, do something about our waistlines, and slather cream on our wrinkles. Are we as mindful of our spiritual self? When things change do we adjust our strategy? Do we ask the tough questions, consider what brings us joy, learn from our past, and keep an eye on a meaningful and purposeful future path - wherever it might lead?
If we’re blessed enough to travel through life for awhile, eventually we all come to a fork in the road. When we do, let’s look both ways, embrace where we’ve been, be optimistic about where we’re going, and try to learn something new about ourselves at every turn.
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