Becoming Me

A few weeks ago I stumbled into a conversation that shocked me.

A woman I greatly admire was out to eat with her grown kids. I walked over to their table and started catching up with who had graduated from where and who now had full time careers.

Smart doesn't begin to scratch the surface of describing these now grown kids.

I complimented my friend about how great her kids have turned out and how I so admire her. "Can you believe how amazing your kids are?

Suddenly, her face dropped and her expression changed.

"Yes my kids turned out great. And yes I loved raising them. But, I lost myself in the process. Now that they're all gone who am I?"

Her kids tried to comfort her by reminding her of the volunteer work she's now able to do. But I could see behind her smiles and nods a hollowness that haunted her.

I walked away from this conversation stunned. Here was a woman I'd held myself up to many times and felt guilty I couldn't measure up. Her whole world was her family.

My family is my priority but I also feel called to do ministry. The balancing act is tough and can leave a woman wondering if it's okay that she have pursuits outside her home.

Now, I almost hesitated to talk about this on the blog because this is a topic that can stir up fire within us women. Some of us want a one size fits all solution to a woman's place in this world. Some wrongly take a "my way is the right way" approach and have no patience for women who make a different choice.

So, I don't want to debate the age old issue between working moms and stay at home moms. On that issue I am slap dab in the middle. I am a working from home mom who sometimes balances everything great and who sometimes doesn't.

No, that's not the discussion I want to have.

What I want to discuss is no matter if you are a working mom, homeschooling mom, stay at home mom, work from home mom, super mom, slacker mom... whatever... how do we fully embrace motherhood but not lose the woman God created us to be?

Because that woman... that woman God created you to be... she's beautifully amazing with gifts and talents and dreams and offerings.

I have more to say on this topic but really I want to hear from you.

Do you struggle with this?

How are you investing in your kids and being the kind of mom they need... but not losing yourself in the process? ...or are you?

And one more quick thing...

I'd love to meet you in person. I'll be in the Portland, Oregon area and in Tennessee in the coming week. And I'll have one of my kids with me too! Oh think of all the fun we could have chattin' it up in person!

Click here for more information on these events and other events I have this fall.