When The House Is Empty
My heart felt empty. My energy sapped. I just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. Emotions were all over the place as I struggled with how I felt and how I was told I should feel. My children were gone, and my house was empty. And my life felt hollow.
You see, for 25 years, all I had known was being a Mom. Once Cole and Jorja were born, my husband and I made a decision for me to stay at home and raise our children to know and love the Lord; for me to be the primary source of influence in their lives. And I took it seriously. I gave my life to it. And now, everything that once defined me was no more. I stared out the window where I once stood and watched them leave, and I felt…lost.
I pulled my journal out and questions began to pour out:
What now?
What do I do now?
Who even am I, apart from being Cole and Jorja’s mother?
I realized that when my children walked out the door, so did my identity.
Or did it?
How often our identity can get wrapped up in our activity. When the activity is no longer, does that mean I am worthless? Sometimes we may feel that way, but that is hardly the case.
IDENTITY IS ABOUT WHO WE ARE, NOT WHAT WE DO
Who are we on the days when our life’s activities change? We are still a daughter of the Most High God, created with great purpose to fulfill, until we take our last breath. He invited us into His Kingdom, through salvation in Jesus Christ, and He then chose us to bring “His Kingdom come and His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven“.
Our identity is a daughter of the King of Kings
who lives to bring what His Kingdom looks like to this earth.
We taught, learned, and lived the principles of that Kingdom as Mothers, and now, we just continue that mission in a new venue.
So, my sweet women, the book is not closed, a chapter is. There is still much to be written in this new chapter, this new season. God is in this new chapter, this new season. And God was in the old chapters, using every bit of it to prepare us for this new one.
The house that was once busy and loud, has now become quiet. Be still. “Be Still and Know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in te earth. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Psalm 46:10-11
Now listen. Get some focused time to posture yourself to hear from your Daddy about what is next. Let Him be for you what He has not yet been before: Comforter in the loss. Filler of the void. Writer of your next chapter.
You are loved,
Jena