Last week marked the six-month anniversary in our move from Texas to Florida. Looking back to my Texas days, I remember that I promised myself, no big decisions until after 6 months. While the first 4 months seemed endlessly slow, the last 2 months have seemed to fly by. I can’t believe its mid-February already!
The biggest change for me from Texas to Florida was going from working full-time to staying at home. With the exception of 6 and 8-week breaks after the births of my two girls, I have worked full time for the last 20 years. I have not only always had a lot of passion for the work I do, but I have seen it as a ministry to which God has called me. He has blessed me with a career that fits my personality – helping make a difference in the lives of others.
If I think about it, the work I do now is not so different from that which I spent the last 20 years doing. As a stay at home mom, my focus is my family, my relationship with God and those who live around me. First and foremost, I have more time to focus on my relationship with God. I usually spend the first few hours of my day walking about 5 or 6 miles, spending time worshiping and listening to podcast sermons and then back at home reading and studying. I really cherish the mornings when I give myself time to go through that routine. But more frequently I get pulled away to volunteer at school or to do things with friends. My afternoons are usually spent with housework (if I’m good and don’t get to involved with surfing or Facebook).
While I can’t remember ever finishing a book in the last 20 years, in the last six months I’ve become a sponge for them. Some of the ones I’ve finished include, Character Makeover by Katie Brazelton and Shelly Leith; No Other Gods and Ruth Bible Studies by Kelly Minter; Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, by Joanna Weaver and Leading on Empty, by Wayne Cordeiro (the last book is the one I should have read first). I also love following the blogs of others and searching the Internet for new recipes to try on my family.
Do I envision myself going back to work? I’m sure I will someday. I want to make sure that I am available for whatever God calls me to do and I’ve spent these last 6 months working on making sure I am listening for His voice over my own. For me that has involved spending a lot of time with Him and getting rid of a lot of personal selfishness that I have built up especially in my adult years. But I am starting to really enjoy this season that He has given me to work on that in my life.
I also love the doors that he has opened for me to serve and learn. Whether it is Wednesday Morning Ladies Bible Study, where he has introduced me to some very wonderful ladies and given me some close friends or the chance to be close to home to help a neighbor after heart surgery, each and every experience God has used to teach me something about Him and how he wants to work in my life.
I do miss my Texas friends and my work there very much, but despite the pain this transition has brought, I am also really enjoying this season of life that God is giving me to refocus on the person He wants me to be. My prayer is that I will continue to have the discipline to seek Him out daily and focus on the finding the opportunities where He wants me to be.
Front Porch Living 