The Choices That Choose You

The following was one of my daily readings from this previous week (sometimes I save them up and read them on the weekends; I must stop doing that).  This one struck me more today after some situations I had at work this week with employees.  It all seems ironic now after I had made a joke the week prior to the board of directors about my "mother hen nature"....maybe it is not really that much of a joke.  I had new employees this week that needed counseling...I had long-term employees that needed counseling. 

Mother Hen and her Chicks :)

I am struck because although I have no children of my own, my natural tendency is still "to mother" those around me...co-workers, employees, friends, family...am I less of a woman because I don't have a husband and children of my own?  Well, some might think so...I don't, but I have never been too big on taking "what other people think" as gospel. 

Whatever "I" think....see what you think after reading this post...(you may jump to the original link by clicking on the title).
             
To Mother     
              
                        As large as the role our mothers have played, the word "mother" is more powerful when used as a verb than as a noun.  All women are not mothers but all women are called to mother.  To mother is to nurture, to train, to educate, to rear.  As daughters of Eve, all women are uniquely gifted to help others in their lives become more of who they truly are -  to encourage, nurture and mother them towards their true selves.  In doing this, women partner with Christ in the vital mission of bringing forth life.

The nurturing of life is a high and holy calling.  And as a woman, it is yours.  Yes, it takes many shapes and has a myriad of faces.  Yes, men are called to this as well.  But uniquely and deeply, this calling makes up part of the very fiber of a woman's soul - the calling to mother.

All women are called to mother.  And all women are called to give birth.  Women give birth to all kinds of things - to a book (it's nearly as hard as a child, believe me), to a church or to a movement.  Women give birth to ideas, to creative expressions, to ministries.  We birth life in others by inviting them into deeper realms of healing, to deeper walks with God, to deeper intimacy with Jesus. A woman is not less of a woman because she is not a wife or has not physically born a child.  The heart and life of a woman is much vaster than that.  All women are made in the image of God in that we bring forth life. When we enter into our world and into the lives of those we love and offer our tender and strong feminine hearts, we cannot help but mother them.

The capacity of a woman's heart for meaningful relationships is vast. There is no way your husband or your children can ever provide the intimacy and relational satisfaction you need. A woman must have women friends.

 It is here, in the realm of relationship that women receive the most joy and the profoundest sorrows.  The friendships of women inhabit a terrain of great mystery.  There is a fierce jealousy, a fiery devotion and a great loyalty between women friends.  Our friendships flow in the deep waters of the heart where God dwells and transformation takes place.  It is here, in this holy place that a woman can partner with God in impacting another and be impacted by another for lasting good.  It is here that she can mother, nurture, encourage and call forth Life.

 To have a woman friend is to relax into another soul and be welcomed in all that you are and all that you are not.  To know that, as a woman, you are not alone.  Friendships between women provide a safe place to share in the experiences of life as a woman. 

(Captivating, 176-180)

Let me be clear.  I had wants and dreams just like any other little girl.  I am no different, but my life has taken different turns, paths, u turns, hair pin turns and the like.  I am WHO I am because of how God made me and the experiences in my life that have shaped me.  I am also who I am because of how I have grown out of the challenges thrown into my path.  I am not defined by other's judgement of me.  I am defined by how I judge myself. 

Whoa.

I have got to cut myself some slack. 

I have purpose as a mother...albeit it a nontraditional one.  I am a good mother.


I love my journey...I love my path.  More than those, I love the purpose God has put on my life and in my heart.  None of that supersedes the fact that I have wants and dreams that I have had to set aside due to timing, opportunity, health and the like. 

Judge less not ye be judged.  Just because one's path looks foreign to you...that doesn't make it wrong.  In the same vein, if your path doesn't look like someone else's, don't despair.  You have your own walk.  Own it.  God gave that walk to you.  He is with you...every step of the way.

 

Let me repeat that...God gave you your walk.  He is with you.  Every SINGLE step of the way. 

Whatever ick, bad, devil...whatever that comes your way....He is with you.  Every step of the way.

I continue to be blessed and driven by the roses and the thorns in my life.  I am glad for them...truly.

Sunshine Dreams to You ~ Today and Every Day! :) 

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