Back on track

This week I called a friend. I had a request to make of her. The request wasn’t even for me … but for another friend. She declined my request and then proceeded to tell me why. Her response was so eloquent and focused that it has given me cause to reevaluate my recent weeks.

I have gotten a bit side-tracked by the recent and now finished apartment search. When I was normally cleaning or doing a spot of laundry, I was preoccupied by searching for an apartment. When I was normally helping Libby with homework, or searching for a new recipe to try on the rest of my family, I was lining up a time to look at an apartment. It totally got me out of my daily grind … and it’s shown me how much I like to be in the grind. The grind works for me. The grind works for my family. The grind keeps me grounded!

I’m now in regroup mode. Here it is the middle of fall and there were no cozy fall things in my house, there were no yummy fall recipes on the horizon, there wasn’t the annual fall tidy in preparation for this time of year. I know, I know … I’m sounding very “Leave it to Beaver” and I’m sure it’s not a far stretch of the imagination to imagine me wearing a dress and sporting a pearl necklace while vacuuming. Stay with me here … I’m just saying that all the things that have become routine and traditional have been set on the back burner. Now, it’s time to move them to the front and give them the proper attention they deserve!

Today, I’m back. I did a mini household cleaning. I made pumpkin applestruedel muffins. I brewed some homemade apple cider. I lit my fall candles. I sent Libby outside to gather some leaves and put them in a clear glass jar as decoration. I feel like a person. All this “out of whack”ness has just confirmed the purposes of my heart and what God has called me to do. No, I’m not saying God has called me to clean my toilet … but … He has called me to be a woman who invests in my family. He’s given me a husband to care for and children to make yummy fall food for. I spent too many years fighting all the things that call me and lure me back to my base! I’ve found my purpose, my design, my role in life. I love being the cog that keeps our family in motion. I love being the one who knows where the cinamon scented candles are and when the right time of year to begin setting them out is. I love hearing my girls oh and aw over the smell of the house when I bake pumpkin muffins.

I have friends who are CEO’s, teachers, and business owners - real women with real jobs who move and shake the world around them. I am not one of them. My world consists of keeping one family running. Today, as I unclogged the cog and set things back in motion, I am ever thankful for the sense of calling and purpose that God has poured into my heart for this “job” I have. It’s ordinary. It’s often thankless. It’s mundane. But … it’s mine … and I love it!