Right Here, Right Now



Ever have a realization that smacks you upside the head?  You feel satisfaction for having realized it but also utter stupidity because it took you this long?  Yeah...that is me tonight.  I've been reading For The Love by Jen Hatmaker and I tell you people, it is exactly what I needed at this stage of my life.  Tonight I read this about "calling", "To Mama at home with a bunch of littles, you can live a life worthy right now.  You calling is today.  God makes you worthy as you desire goodness for your children, meeting needs and nurturing little souls.  No future calling is any more important than your current station.  Every good, meaningful possibility is yours today.  You have access to the kingdom now: the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  That is every Christians's calling, and the gospel is perfectly demonstrated through the daily labor of parenting."  The ironic thing is I was reading this in between hearing Freija cry on the monitor (she's cutting her second tooth).  I would wait about 5 minutes then go in and pick her up and rock her...on and on and on, until just now (10ish pm) she fell asleep...I think.  Every time I went back in (she's sharing a room with her siblings right now) I would look around and Kieren in the top bunk, Zoe in the bottom and (not so little) Freija in my arms and think, wow...this really IS the most important thing I will EVER do.

Over the years since I have graduated college I have struggled with bitterness.  I've been bitter that I am in debt with a degree that I'm not "using"...bitter than I'm not in the career I thought I would be.  I've stood with friends and looked around thinking, wow I'm not a Pastor, Doctor, Lawyer (what have you)...but why do I compare myself like that?  Here and there I have accepted that yes, being a Mom is super important...but it never really sank in until tonight.  Down the road I may or may not be a worship leader, massage therapist, hair stylist or whatever random thing I've been interested in doing for "work"...but nothing will ever be more important than what I am doing right now, raising three amazing little people.  Of course you never stop being a Mom (or parent) but these precious few seconds I have while they're little, because it seriously goes that fast, are priceless!

I leave you with more Hatmaker wisdom that is rocking my world...

"You don't need to wait another day to figure out your calling.  You're living it, dear one.  Your gifts have a place right now, in the job you have, in your stage of life, with the people who surround you....We are called to this work, and it might not seem like much, but if you play your one note and I play mine and she plays hers, together it will create one beautiful song that sounds like freedom for the captives and good news to the poor..."

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

She, He, Them

 The world we live in was built on the Patriarchy and it bleeds into everything, especially religion and faith.  Growing up in the Christian church, I thought that was how it should be because that's what I was told to believe.  If you ever for one second questioned that, you were headed down a "slippery slope".  I remember one day my dad asked me "What if God is a woman?" and you would think by my reaction that he had asked me to commit murder.  That's how deeply entrenched I was in the idea that God is and must be and can only be a man.  Fast forward about 30 years and last weekend on Mother's Day I'm sitting in my mom's church (Normandy Park United Church of Christ), celebrating "Mother Earth Sunday" and singing:  "She's got the whole world in her hands, she's got the whole world in her hands..." The idea that God is only Father can actually be very hard for people that have never had a close relationship with their...
Read more

My Calling

Leave it to a Taylor Swift docuseries to give me an earth-shattering revelation.  If you know me well or have read my blog, you will know about my very long struggle with vocation and what that means for me.  When I was around five, I wanted to "cut hair".  Flash forward to early college, I wanted to do youth ministry which turned into music which turned into I should just graduate already.  I had a string of random jobs to help pay the bills while we started to grow our family.  As I got older, I started to wonder "what am I doing with my life"?  I regretted being in debt for college when I wasn't "using" my degree to make money.   At one point I thought it might be fun to go to massage school and maybe that's something I could be good at.  Then when we were in Iowa, I realized I had a strong passion for social justice and began a certificate program but only took one class because we had to move pretty suddenly.  Once we got back to Se...
Read more

Paleo Fish Tacos

For those of you who were interested in the fish taco recipe... -Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook, By Sarah Fragoso Fish Tacos with Spicy Slaw 1-2 lbs wild-caught cod fillets Marinade Freshly squeezed juice from 1 lime 1 tbsp olive oil 1/4 tsp chipotle powder 1 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp salt Spicy Slaw 2 cups shredded green cabbage 1 cup diced mango 1/2 cup diced cilantro leaves 1 1/2 cups peeled and diced jicama 1 fresh jalapeno, seeds removed and minced (optional) 1/4 cup mayonnaise (she makes her own, I just used out of the jar) 1/8 tsp chipotle powder 1/2 tsp ground cumin For tacos: Butter or Romaine lettuce leaves Diced fresh cilantro Sliced radishes Lime wedges 1.  In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together marinade 2.  Put the fish fillets in the bowl of marinade and gently rub the marinade into them; let the fish soak for at least 15 min. 3.  In the meantime prepare the spicy slaw 4.  Rinse and dry several large butter or Romaine let...
Read more