tumblr.com/empty-nest
If there was a class for how to be an Empty Nester, I didn't get the memo. But at the same time, I didn't get instruction for when the nest was full either. In fact, as much as I desired to be a mama, I was equally frightened. I never really enjoyed other people's children & did not want anyone to babysit mine [unless I paid them] for fear I'd have to reciprocate.
That is the honest truth :-p
Little did I know that I would so deeply fall in love with my chick-a-dees AND fall in love with my nieces & nephews & many others. I also did not realize that the best part was always the current part. I wasn't the kind of mama-bird that said, "Oh I long for my funny five year-old," or "I sure wish they'd hurry up & stop being 13!" I actually loved it all.
The hard part is letting go. But do I have to? What does it really mean to have an empty nest? That you're no longer needed as their mama? That they're not allowed to ever move back home for a while? That they're on their own from here on financially, emotionally, spiritually?
Of course I will take each situation, with each grown child, as it comes. There have been times AND there will be times when they just need their mama [and their amazing dad!]. My heart soars when I get the privilege [yes, I said privilege] to minister to my children.
Yes, this is the time in my life that I get to reorganize & "re-feather" my nest/home, set some new goals AND be like a newlywed with my beloved husband. Those are definitely things to be happy about. Besides, they do come home for holiday & I also get to go visit them in their fun cities once in a while. So what's the big deal? I was nervous about being a mama, now silly me is nervous about not being a mama? Just like the good LORD guided me each day in raising them & just like I loved it all...
I'm singing like a happy bird, having confidence in knowing that I can trust Adonai for each new day & hope for the future that I could be so blessed as to have my nest visited with adorable chickies from the next generation. B'Shalom, Deborah
How deeply loved are your dwelling-places,
Adonai-Tzva’ot!
My soul yearns, yes, faints with longing
for the courtyards of Adonai;
my heart and body cry for joy to the living God.
for the courtyards of Adonai;
my heart and body cry for joy to the living God.
As the sparrow finds herself a home
and the swallow her nest, where she lays her young,
[so my resting-place is] by your altars,Adonai-Tzva’ot, my king and my God.
and the swallow her nest, where she lays her young,
[so my resting-place is] by your altars,Adonai-Tzva’ot, my king and my God.
Psalm 84:2-4 CJB
