Reinventing Me

Sometimes, if one is very fortunate, an opportunity arises to reinvent oneself.

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Moving to another town, enrolling in a different school, undertaking new employment, joining a club or group, all of these open the door to a potential new you. None of these strangers know you're a whiner, or bad-tempered, or bossy. Here is a clean slate where whining, tantrums, and bossing - everything you don't like about yourself or your character - are erased away. You can present yourself as an appreciative, calm, cooperative paragon of excellent behavior.

Okay, it isn't that easy to accomplish.

Our bad habits, annoying ways, and sinful natures aren't discarded quite so easily, but a fresh beginning with people who don't know us is a wonderful occasion to try and evolve into the person we've always wanted to be; a person slowly being transformed into the image of Christ.

I have arrived at this juncture several times in the past, but never had the good sense to take advantage of my new beginnings. Fortunately, two additional reinvention occasions have arisen. My husband and I have been looking for a new church for over a year. While visiting churches and meeting new people, I have been able to present the best Me that I can. The mind and nature of Christ that I often pray to be manifest in me has a chance to see daylight. No one knows the old me.

Starting a new job last week has afforded me the same opportunity. I can be the type of employee that Jesus would want me to be. My character and nature are as yet unknown to my employer and coworkers. I can be whoever I want to be. And what better role model than Jesus?

Raise a glass (of iced tea, naturally) to transitions and new beginnings, and the chance to reinvent yourself.

Change is Good, Right?

I have been dreading this week for months. It is the week my newlywed daughter and her husband move

to Peru. For five years. And I don't mean Peru, Nebraska.

This most excellent couple is pursuing Scott's dream of several years, helping Peruvians grow and develop businesses. Want to know how they'll be doing it? Visit here.

It's difficult, being excited and sad all at once. Excited because of the wonderful work they hope to do and because of all the ways God may be glorified through their efforts. Sad because I am going to miss my girl.

We go on weekend adventures together, spur each other on to achieve whatever our hopes may be, and share what God is showing us and how He is working in our lives. So often, He is leading us on parallel paths, teaching us the same lessons.

They have been packing up their lives. Choosing which few items travel to South America, what lives in Mama and Daddy's attic, and what finds a new home. My girl and I have discussed minimalism many times; she will finally be practicing it.

And so, My girl experiences her next transition, leaving a comfortable and familiar life to pursue a completely new life, learn a new language, do a new work, and live in a vastly different culture.

I'm excited, really, I am. But I can't help crying too.

First World Problems

The concept of being a First World Nation and what we view as our problems and challenges came up at the dinner table last week.

I was vaguely familiar with term, and after doing some research leaned that it actually harkens back to the Cold War Era and referred to the countries allied with the United States during that time. The term now refers to nations that possess highly developed societies, are capitalistic in nature, industrialized, influential, and prosperous. (For more information on which countries are included and various related statistics check here.)

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We all know that Third World Nations generally deal with problems of poverty, low standard of living, governmental and/or religious oppression, lack of educational and employment opportunities, and many other issues. Their problems are often as critical as insufficient water and food and fear for their lives since many of their nations suffer from wars and political oppression.

But what are problems First World Nations encounter and how do they differ from Third World problems?

• Suffering from obesity rather than starvation
• Looking in a closet packed with clothing and whining about nothing to wear as opposed to owning only the clothes covering your body
• Complaining about the long line at the DMV instead of never even imagining owning a car
• Huffing and puffing over a slow wi-fi connection while our Third World brothers and sisters have their internet blocked by the government, or they can't afford a computer, or they are illiterate.

Do you see the disconnect? We "suffer" from abundance while they suffer from want. If you're anything like me, you're going to start thinking twice before complaining about your Starbucks order being wrong or the grocery store being out of your favorite brand of cereal.

We need a transition in our thinking. We need a revival of gratitude, appreciation and thankfulness - and giving. We need to give more, demand less, and keep our perspective straight.

Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. - Phil 2:4,5 (KJV)

Queen of the Flash

The first indication of menopause is a broken thermostat. It's either that or your weight. In any case, if you don't do something, you could be dead by August.

Dorothea Benton Frank

Queen of the hot flash, that's me.  Here is one transition I could live without.

First you're hot,

and then you're not.

Belly fat

where you used to be flat.

Swinging moods,

and craving foods.

Woman crabby,

body flabby.

Potty at night.

No end in sight.

Like being pregnant, without the baby.

Do it Your Way

While grief is fresh, every effort to divert irritates. You must wait till it be digested, and then amusement will dissipate the remains of it.

Samuel Johnson

Our reaction to the death of someone we care about is as unique as each of us is. The ability to let go of grief and move on is easier in theory than actuality. Here are some suggestions about dealing with death and grieving 

1. It is unfair to compare and judge the length and depth of how one grieves with how another grieves. One friend was devastated for several years by her miscarriage and did not want to be around babies at all for a few years. Another friend processed the same loss more quickly and did not have the same reaction to newborns. Neither friend did it "right" or did it "wrong". They just felt the effects of death differently.
2. Think before you speak. I have heard an amazing amount of thoughtless remarks addressed to grieving people. If you don't know what to say, try, "I'm so sorry."
3. Offer practical and specific help. Saying, "Call if you need anything," is kind, but saying, "Can I mow your lawn and bring you dinner next Monday?" is more tangible. It is difficult to think clearly during the fog of fresh grief, and impossible to think about what that "anything you might need" could be.
4. Sometimes just being present is enough. You do not need to offer solutions, explanations, suggestions or even comforting words. Sitting quietly together and being willing to listen is all you have to do.

Welcome to the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge 2013. I'm aiming for short, entertaining and occasionally insightful posts. Topics addressing transitions are the goal . . . but we'll see.

Image: Vlado/freedigitalphotos.net

Post-Wedding Let Down?

I expected to feel a post-wedding let down after my daughter's marriage on Saturday (a brag post with photos will follow soon :) ). But, there hasn't been time.

We have had house guests, one of whom my son and I took to the airport at 4:45 a.m. yesterday and another who will continue to visit until Saturday. My youngest son is home from college for spring break. One of our cars broke down during the crammed-full pre-wedding days so juggling car schedules was added into the mix.

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And today? Well, we're having what we in the south call a snow storm. An inch of snow is considered a storm in our area, but we're actually in the middle of  a snowfall that may reach 8 inches. The upside is that everyone stayed home from work and the house is cozy and warm because I always have a desire to bake on days like this.

I expect life to slow down a little next week when everything returns to normal and then there should be time to think about the changes my daughter's marriage will bring to our family dynamic. She will no longer be living in our home and she and her husband will be moving to Peru later this year. Transitions, transitions . . .

Alert! Transition Ahead (No Joke)

Being of Polish decent, I've heard more than my share of jokes regarding my nationality, particularly when I was a single woman with a very obviously Polish last name.  Added to that, I am also blonde so that is another joke pool of which I am a part.

However, with this new and exciting transition ahead, I'm afraid I'll face an even greater glut of jokes because in 2013 for the first time I will become a mother-in-law.


That's right.  Mr. and Mrs. Transitional-Woman will be welcoming a son-in-law into our family.  He is a fine man and we are glad to enfold him into the collective family bosom.

An engagement, and subsequent enlarging of the family, wasn't one of the transitions we expected this year, but it is a joyful tiding and we're looking forward to getting to know our future son-in-law better in the crazily busy months we're expecting to live through during the remainder of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013.

Long before any of our children were of marriageable age, I prayed that I would love my future children-in-law as much as I love my birth children.  I don't want to be one of those mother-in-laws who is critical and interfering, but one who is supportive, loving and encouraging.

So if you know any good mother-in-law jokes, please feel free not to share them with me, but I am open to all the good advice you have to offer.

Lessons Learned - Summer 2012

Aren't June, July and August the fastest three months of the year?  We've arrived at the end of August after a relatively quiet summer and I feel rather introspective.

How did I spend those golden summer days?  Did I accomplish anything? Have I learned anything?

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Last summer I taught myself Fair Isle knitting and knit my first (and, sadly, so far only) pair of pint-sized practice socks. So I'm feeling a lack of tangible accomplishments this summer.  Not everything can be measured visibly; however, so I decided to review what I learned this summer.  This is in lieu of a "What I did on my summer vacation" composition next month.

• The Lord provides.  Due to some smart home refinancing early this year by my husband, we have the funds to do critically-needed home repairs.  Just when we needed it, interest rates dropped and we benefited.  Is that God or what?

• Friends are a blessing.  Yes, I know, it's obvious, but this summer I cherished more than ever time spent with friends, old and new. Finally, I'm learning friendship needs to be nurtured, not taken for granted and requires a time investment.  Thanks, gals, for the great breakfasts, coffees, lunches, dinners, phone chats, not to mention baseball games, you've shared with me this summer (uh oh, too many food related outings).  I've felt a little vulnerable the past few months with so many changes in my life, and you all reminded me that friendships are the patches that hold a life together.

• The Lord provides. (Is the old gal repeating herself?  No, He just provides a lot).  You might know I've been trying to figure out what comes next now that homeschooled tuba guy is a college freshman.  And holy, smokin' Joe, did God provide in a big way.  More about this transition soon!

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• The body of Christ is amazing.  We left our church of ten years at the end of June and were dreading "the church search."  There was a huge surprise waiting for us that we never dreamed would exist.  As we've traveled church by church throughout our community we have been blessed, I tell you, blessed.  We have been spiritually bolstered and encouraged by Godly preaching, been energized by preachers excited by their calling and steeped in the Word of God, enjoyed coming before the Lord with so many other believers in our ethnically diverse area, learned some new worship songs, been hugged by the warmth of beloved hymns, and so much more.

There's more to share, but this post keeps growing and I know y'all are busy and have lots of other blogs to read and I have to try and capture some hours from this day before they evaporate.  It's good to be back at the keyboard and while August is almost over it's still summer because the thermometer is creeping up to 90 degrees today.

Crazy Days

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Transitional-Woman has been living through some crazy, busy days.  Not only hasn't there been time to blog (Because am I smart enough to have a large library of posts prepared ahead for busy times?  I think you know the answer.), there hasn't been time to cook or clean either.  Not to mention ironing, but, heck I try to avoid ironing and completely forget about doing it for weeks at a time anyway.  Laundry, on the other hand, I am good with laundry.  Getting it folded is a problem, though.  And did I mention I've been sick for two weeks?

So, anyway, I've got great material for posts bubbling in my head because there have been tons of transitions taking place in my world.  And one of those posts will be about Time Management because that's been a big mountain to climb lately.

I hoping to be back on track by the end of this week because not only have I been missing writing this blog, I've been missing reading my favorite blogs too.

One piece of business I neglected to mention was that there is a winner for the Tropical Traditions Gold Label Coconut Oil (I used some of mine to make three loaves of banana bread today.  Want to guess how I did that with a broken oven?  Oh, yeah, I also haven't had time to shop for a new stove either).

The winner was Danielle C.  She has been notified and Tropical Traditions will be sending her a free quart of Virgin Coconut Oil very soon.

Submerged

Our mistakes have a way of coming back to haunt us even when we've changed.  Bailey Craig in Dani Pettrey's book Submerged discovered this the hard way.

Bailey was a wild child as a teen, sleeping with any boy who wanted her.  Abandoned by her mother, Bailey lived with her aunt in Alaska.  Despite her aunt's love and support, Bailey felt deeply wounded by her mother's abandonment and looked for love and acceptance anywhere she could find it.

She left wreckage in her wake.  Her first boyfriend, Cole, was one of those pieces of wreckage.

When Bailey's aunt dies, she has to return to Alaska to sell her aunt's business.  She dreads returning because she doesn't want to face Cole who was a good friend and she doesn't want to endure the knowing looks and unkind comments from others in the small Alaska town who knew the kind of girl she was.

The kind of girl she was.  Bailey's a new person now.  She became a believer in Jesus while she was in college and changed her lifestyle.  And now as a college professor and a Christian, she is respected by her friends and colleagues in Oregon.  Going back to Alaska to face her past is not something she ever envisioned doing.

After learning her aunt's death in a plane crash was not accidental, Bailey is compelled to stay in Alaska to unravel the clues her aunt left that can explain why she and several more people were killed.  The longer Bailey stays, she discovers that not only has God forgiven her for her past, but so has Cole.

Submerged is about transitions and forgiveness set against the backdrop of Alaska in the summertime.  Dani Pettrey weaves information about Alaska's Russian heritage into a contemporary story of murder, greed and power-seeking.  Not to mention skin-diving, treasure-hunting and the search for the last descendants of the Romanov dynasty.

Bailey is a complicated woman still filled with unhappiness and hurt. Although she knows she is loved and forgiven by God, she has difficulty accepting that love and forgiveness.  The character of Bailey is a person-type with whom many of us can identify.  Her struggle for wholeness is universal.
  
There are elements of predictable romance in the book, but by not brushing over Bailey's struggle with believing she is genuinely forgiven and a new woman in Christ and not providing easy solutions, Pettrey gives the book authenticity and weight.

Submerged is absorbing summer reading, not fluffy, and particularly interesting because of the focus on Russian Alaska history.  It is the first book in the Alaskan Courage series.  Pettrey introduces us to many other characters who I think will be the lead players in subsequent entries in the series.


Submerged by Dani Pettrey
Bethany House Publishers, 2012
Christian Fiction, 313 pages
Bethany House Publishers provided a free copy of Submerged for review. The opinions stated are my own.

Mirror, Mirror ...

Today we have a special guest, my friend Lynden from An Elegant Touch, with a unique transitions post. 

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you.

I have made you and I will carry you, I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Isaiah 46:4

“Mirror, Mirror, on the wall –
      Where’s the Young Woman who had such Great Hope for it all?...”

When was it that she had walked through That Door?

You know – That Door that led from the busy-every-single-moment-of

      every-single-day –cooking-baking-cleaning, piles-of-laundry, 

            never-ending-yard-work, monitoring-homework-and-chores – 

      constant-chatter-and-laughter-of children -

      showing-guidance, teaching-values, loving-more-than-life Door -

      That Door that led from that wonderful, hope-filled, comfortable,
            fulfilling place of Then – 

                  to this place of Now…

This place of empty, quiet, alone, unneeded, unwanted, uncared-about and

       uncared-for –

      This place that might be for Others, but not HER –
      For those who had not cared-enough, tried-hard-enough, done-enough,
            loved-enough…
      But SHE had. And more.

So she had never expected to go through That Door – from vibrant living to not ‘living’ at all.
      Merely existing. Watching. Waiting. Wondering.
      Wondering how SHE had walked through That Door –
            making the transition to This…

She knew that God was with her.
      She talked to Him ‘without ceasing’ in this Now, even as she always had
            in the Then. 
      She still didn’t have answers as to how she had come to This –
            where she’d made the ‘wrong turn in the road’ that had led her to
            Here.
      Hopefully, He would let her know – sooner, rather than later.

Yes, God was Here in the dark of the night – in the empty of the day –
He was the One Who had brought her thus far –
      and He would walk with her until the Next Door opened –
      and He welcomed her Home. Even so…

    Lynden Blossom, a paper-artist who blogs at An Elegant Touch, describes herself as, "a mature, educated, creative woman - a Mother of two grown children, a Gramama of two precious grandchildren, a proud Blue Star Mother of a Marine Captain, a daughter of the King of Kings - a woman looking for her place in the world in the winter of her life."

Uncovering Mold

This is our bathroom.  Notice the lack of bathtub and wall?  Insidious mold was growing behind the shower surround, you know that thing that goes around your bathtub?  

We executed a temporary repair job a few years ago for the same problem, but had obviously waited too long before implementing a permanent solution because the mold came back with a vengeance.  So here we go again, the bathroom is torn up and getting remodeled.


 



It seems like we treat  our problems like this.  If everything looks fine on the surface, we just ignore the niggling hints that there is something wrong underneath and keep singing in the shower.

Like I said, we knew the previous repair was only temporary, but we left it alone too long, the problem got bigger and bigger and we arrived at the point where we had to strip the wall back to the cinder blocks.

Ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away and implementing a temporary repair is just that, temporary.  Sometimes you have to do the hard work of digging below the surface to get to the root of a problem.

• Are your finances a mess?  You might need to examine your expenditures to uncover where all the money is going.  
• Do you have a troubled relationship?  Don't keep shifting the blame on the other person, examine your own heart, motives and actions. 
• Are you gaining weight, or having trouble eating healthfully?  Don't deceive yourself, assess what you're eating, how much you're eating and when you're eating.  You'll likely find some answers.

In order to transition to a life of wholeness, health and peace, we need to examine honestly the unhealthy areas in our lives and deal with them by initiating changes.  Even when they're messy.  Even when they're inconvenient.  Even when they're hard.  Even when it hurts.


And while it's great to research and talk to other people about the best way to handle the problem, remember in the end that their solution is probably not going to be your solution.  Everyone has diverse circumstances. 

As a Christian, my solution begins by going to God and asking for help because effecting radical change is difficult and sometimes impossible on my own.  And quite likely the way He leads me is going to be different than the way He leads someone else.  However it happens, the repair work may still be hard, and others might judge and criticize my methods and choices, but at least I know I'm doing it the way He wants me to.

So, where is your mold?  Are you willing to strip your life down to the cinder blocks to find the truth and make changes?

Flight of Blue

I really, really don't like trilogies, whether they be books or movies.  The wait, the anticipation for the next installment kills me (I confess to sometimes reading the end of a book after the first few chapters), which is why I prefer to discover them after they're complete.

But, I've done it again.  I've read the first book of a trilogy while the second is still being written and I'm going to have to wait.  New author A.E. Howard has just published Flight of Blue (to be released July 24)  the first installment from the Keeper of the Keys Chronicles.

I "met" Anna during the A to Z Blog Challenge in April.  She had an excerpt from Flight of Blue on one of her blogs, I read it and was pulled in.  I enjoyed it so much, I asked her if I could review it here.


I've had my Kindle edition copy a couple of weeks, it only took me this long to read it because as usual I've been chasing my tail and running behind (apologies for the mixed metaphor).  My slowness in completion is no reflection on Flight of Blue. 


The title of Chapter 1 is The Last Normal Friday.  Now you know after reading that, you're in for some action and adventure and that is exactly what happens.  Our protagonist is a regular 12-year-old boy living a somewhat regular life, except that his family moves around a lot and you'll find out why.  Only Kai's not so regular and neither are his parents.


Kai is abruptly thrown into circumstances he could never have imagined. He has to transition from being a kid who is moving through life in the usual middle school way into a young man who has to lead a band of friends, accept new responsibilities and make snap decisions not only to survive himself but to save his friends.


Flight of Blue is a book about the value of friendship - with friends old and new, choosing whether or not to accept a strange and uncertain future, facing frightening and confusing situations which defy understanding and trusting strangers to teach and guide you.


I don't know what the genre is, middle grade fantasy maybe?  But I found it great adult reading in the tradition of Madeleine L'Engle and her A Wrinkle in Time series and Austin Family Chronicles.

Want a little sneak peak?


But what I need to know is, Anna, what comes next?!?!?   And how long do I have to wait?


Be sure to stop by on July 27 when A.E. Howard visits Transitional-Woman as one of the stops on her blog tour.

Flight of Blue by A.E. Howard
Elder Tree Books, 2012
Fantasy, Kindle edition

The author proved a Kindle edition at no charge for my review.  All views and opinions expressed are my own.

U.S. in Transition

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Did you hear on the news recently that non-caucasian births outpaced caucasian births in the U.S. last year?   This wasn't a complete surprise, it was expected to happen in the next 10 to 20 years.  The fact that it occurred already was the unexpected part.

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I don't know if children learn this in school anymore, but I was proudly taught that America was a melting pot that welcomed  people from all over the world to its shores in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Are Americans still proud of this heritage?  Is the U.S. ready to become a non-caucasian dominant society?

Government, business and actually society as a whole have been controlled by white males since Captain John Smith and the other men on the Godspeed, Susan Constant and the Discovery settled  the Virginia Colony.  But all of that will change in the future as more non-white Americans grow up and become our nation's new leaders.

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I view this as a positive transition for our nation since fresh ideas and different cultural perspectives can keep us progressing and growing and, hopefully, more competitive in the global marketplace.

But what I'm really wondering is, what do other people think about this?  I would love to hear your comments and continue the dialogue.  What do you view as the positives and/or negatives as the face of the U.S. changes?

A Little Bit of a Cheat

Can I tell you that it's been pretty hairy lately?  I can't seem to string together enough minutes to write a meaningful, thought-provoking post.  But because I covenanted with myself that I would faithfully post three times a week, this is what's up today.

For your viewing pleasure (I hope), I'm posting pictures of my flower gardens.  How does this tie-in to transitions?  The season is changing from spring to summer and this is how it looks in my world.  (Please forgive my cheat and I hope you enjoy my non-professional photos).

Did you notice the little white cabbage moth?

Happy Summer

Faster than the Speed of Light

Here's a quick change for you.  Nine days ago we were attending my son's high school graduation and today I am with him at the university of his choice for freshman orientation.  There wasn't even time to bask in the glow of his and my achievement.  Him for graduating high school, me for graduating my fourth and last homeschooler from high school.

We barely finished eating the graduation cake.

(This is me being bored, but older and more wrinkles ) Image source 

I'm not sure what to expect from this two-day event, which I confess I didn't want to attend.  I suspect there is yet another campus tour involved, yet another lecture on letting go (I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready to empty the nest), yet another discussion on paying for college  (did someone mention loans?), yet another explanation of meal plans, and so on.

Perhaps they'll surprise us clinging parents with some heretofore unexpected piece of information that will have made two days of sitting and listening to lectures worthwhile.  Or maybe this is just a reminder of what college feels like, sitting for looong periods of time listening to lectures.

One son asked, "Are you bringing your Kindle?"

And another son asked, "Are you bringing your Kindle?"  Do these men know me or what?

I'll let you know if there are any surprises.

And I have to confess that while my son is experiencing for one night (yet again) "what it is like to live in a dorm" I am looking forward to an evening in the hotel all by myself.  With my Kindle.

Celebrating the Transitions

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In the space of 22 days I will have attended a wedding, an 18th birthday celebration, a graduation ceremony (maybe two), a final band concert, a church picnic honoring graduates, a graduation dinner, a cookout and four graduation parties.

How much fun can one woman handle?

Hoo boy it's a busy time (not to mention expensive!) but milestones should be celebrated.  It's important to reflect on where we've been and how far we've come.  Because our lives are full of so much stuff and busyness and time goes so quickly, our celebrations force us to pause and remind us to commemorate the meaningful, significant and special events that occur in a life.

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I have a few days to rest and catch up before the next round of good times start up this weekend. Maybe I'll even have time to weed the garden.

What are you celebrating?

Auntie Mame Says it Best - Open a New Window, Open a New Door

Welcome to Five Minute Friday, the word for today is Opportunity.

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What an exciting word filled with unimaginable things.  Opportunity speaks of promise, challenge and newness.  Opportunity means fresh beginnings,  never before dreamed of, well, opportunities.

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Maybe because one major part of my life is ending, homeschooling, and all of my kids grown, I view the word opportunity with anticipation.  What will happen next?  What wonderful newness will occur as the Lord moves me from where I've been to where I'm supposed to be next?

I am overwhelmed with gratitude for a husband who encourages me to explore and try to discover what is to come with an open-hearted happiness for me.  I have been given the freedom to look and dream and imagine and explore because of his goodness and kindness.

I am Transitional-Woman, what opportunities are waiting for me?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.

Is There a Place at the Table for Me?

When I started reading blogs,  it seemed like they were mainly written by 20- and 30-something year old women.  They were interesting, but I’m past the stage of raising young children, struggling over the problems that the first decade of marriage brings and feeling concern over the loss of identity because of transitioning from professional woman into a SAHM.

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Then I began blogging and tried (and still am trying) to determine who I was going to be as a blogger and what I could bring to the table that would be of value.  I was searching for a community to belong to.

Frustrated, I wondered if there was a place for me.  Was there anyone out there  who read blogs that weren’t about raising children, politics, crafts, travel or cooking?  I enjoyed those blogs too, but I was striving to find my place at the table and find people who could be blessed and helped by what I had to say and were willing to engage in a dialogue.

Transitional-Woman has gone through four phases as I’ve slogged, skipped and slithered along the blogging road.  From a personal blog about my transitions, to a blog about mid-life transitions, to a blog exploring  life transitions experienced by people of all ages and to its current phase as a blog about not only physical life transitions, but transitions of the heart, soul and spirit.


I am slowly finding a community. 


And while I don't want to only read blogs by people with interests exactly like mine, in my stage of life and near my age (I mean, how boring is that?) it's great to discover there are other bloggers I can identify with.  There are also people of many ages I think I can bless and help with my writing.  And there are people out there willing to share the benefit of their experience.  Slowly, we are finding each other.


Happily, I discovered in the last couple of months that there is a place at the table for me.  So, where's dessert? 

Blazing a New Trail

Today, Heidi from Heidi'sbooks and I are having a blog swap.  She shares some of her thoughts about a transition she's approaching on Transitional-Woman, and I'm reviewing The Chosen on her blog.

Last year I read an article in Forbes Magazine listing the top women executives. It was a fascinating article showing where each woman worked, how much money she made, and what assets she controlled. It also told each woman’s age. All of them were in the 48-60 age group.

I’m approaching that age group and also headed for a major transition in life. How is it that you can work yourself out of a job in 20 years? You see, I’ve homeschooled for 18 years, organized co-ops, lead 4H groups, planned community service projects, lead support groups, edited newsletters, etc. In a few short years all my students will have graduated, and I will face the empty nest (sort of)—and in the process lose my full time job.

When I think of all the possibilities, I get giddy with excitement.

As I look around my church at what the other ladies in my age group are doing, I realize that most of them are working full-time jobs. Most are doing jobs they enjoy. Some work long hours, commute, and arrive home late at night. Saturdays are filled with laundry and catching up on everything that gets pushed aside during the week. Kudos to them. They work hard, and are salt and light in their workplaces. But they have relatively little time for community outreach, ministry, or helping others in the church.

What if I chose a different path? What if I used all my past experience to work for the church and community just like the business woman moves up the corporate ladder? I could continue down the same path moving into an expanded position. What if a group of the first wave of homeschool-mom-retirees put their experience to work in the community and church? That’s a tour de force volunteer army. I think we could see a fundamental shift in our society.

What needs are not getting met in our communities? How many elderly have visitors at the nursing home? I don’t even know most of my neighbors, and church visitation has become a thing of the past. How are the older women teaching or helping the younger women? There are so many needs and people are going it alone. Maybe it’s time to bring back that sense of community.

I would like to wear a business suit and carry a briefcase, but maybe it’s time to blaze a new trail.

Heidi from Heidi'sbooks is a homeschool mom with five children who loves reading and talking about books.  For the past few months, she's been diving into the great Russian authors.  Whew!