Home bound…
This week my kids will come home for a few days.
My baby girl has been living in a dorm since August, and my son has an apartment.
First time empty nesters over here.
My heart is doing better than I thought it would to be honest.
However, some days, it hits like a brick falling from the blue sky.
I miss their laughter.
I miss their messes.
I miss their laundry.
I miss those things that used to really get on my nerves….like leaving their shoes in the middle of my floor.
Or, coming to my bathroom to get dressed when they have their own bathroom—this one drives my husband crazy. Ha!
As I prepare for them to come home, I am trying to think of all of the things they will need. An extra toothbrush (or two), clean sheets on their beds, extra snacks in the pantry…
For years and years I prayed for this season of life.
Since I was a little girl, all I ever dreamed of was being a mother.
I wanted to be a wife too, but as a small girl, motherhood was the pinnacle.
When my kids were little I dreaded the thought of being an empty nester.
However, one day, when my son was in middle school, I started to pray for this season. It seemed a million years away, but I knew it would eventually come.
I prayed for my heart. I prayed for their hearts. I prayed for my marriage. I prayed for contentment. I prayed for anything I could think of to help bridge this gap of one season to the next.
God answered those prayers.
He has given me a new song, and it has been sweet.
Sing a new song to the LORD! Let the whole earth sing to the LORD! Psalm 96:1
Don’t get me wrong, I would love nothing more than for my kids to be home all day and all night.
I am learning to lean into new seasons.
God has a way of preparing hearts. He is just so faithful like that.
Contentment is available if we truly seek to find it.
Gratitude plays the biggest role in contentment.
I have shared over and over with you how I write what I am thankful for every morning of my life. Yes, every single morning.
It has helped ease this transition of an emptier home. It shifts my eyes to the good and not the things I don’t have.
God still has a plan for us in new seasons of life.
I am still a mother.
I am still needed by my children in many ways.
My prayer life is probably even more consistent today that it ever was when they were little.
Motherhood truly never ends.
I want my children to love coming back home. I also want them to be okay with going back to their places.
My heart has learned so much in this new season of letting go.
I still have a lot to learn.
If you are finding yourself in a new season, lean into it. Ask God to help you and to help you find a new song in this season.
Look for the GOOD.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8
Refuse to get stuck.
God has good things planned for us.
Be available to hear from Him and be available to move forward when those good things come.
Love your children well when they are home, and love them well when they leave your home.
Stay thankful above all else.
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
washing sheets,
jill
