September 18 

One of the reasons that I think the empty nest is difficult is that it is so fluid. As Barbara and I have said, it’s much like “Jell-O.” You think you get “it” arranged in a mold and then it leaks out and you have to adjust in some way. And then it happens again.     

The fluidity of the season is uncomfortable. We are not used to it. When we were in the season of parenting toddlers we had challenges which we soon discovered other mothers had. There seemed to be a pattern. The teen years brought about different challenges. Each of these seasons had clear beginnings and endings. But this empty nest has different beginnings and waves and many more contributing factors—elder care, a child who comes back home, a move, retirement, a job change, an illness, the loss of a spouse, a dream that doesn’t work out, grandchildren, etc. The empty nest doesn’t really end and it’s not tidy. It’s messy. And that can be disconcerting.

Our five children are 29-36 years old now. They are all married and our youngest is expecting our twelfth grandchild in October. The twins graduated from high school eleven years ago! Since I’ve been an empty nester so long, and Barbara and I have written this book, you’d think I’d have all the answers and a clear formula for this season and really, I should have figured it all out by now.       

But I haven’t. And I don’t like it. I like life neat and orderly. And the empty nest isn’t. So once again I’m asking God to give me a new rhythm for my life. I need to know what to cut out and where to focus. I need to slow down and that’s hard. I long for clarity which is elusive. But in the muddle I sense that God has something much bigger to teach me. He longs to take me to a deeper level—a level that accepts His interruptions more gracefully and rests in the assurance that He is not finished with me yet. He is in the middle of the muddle. He has a plan and He wants me to release my controlling fingers from the “Jell-O” and allow Him the freedom to mold my life as He desires.

He is good and He is about something so much bigger in our lives than we can ever imagine.

                                    “Be still and know that I am God.”  Psalm 46:10