For the past 21 years, I have been a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom of 5 kids. One by one, as they entered the high school years, they went off to public school… and now it is time to send my two youngest (twins) off for their adventure into high school.
What has defined me, guided my days and been required of me has ended. All of my children are still living at home in various stages of high school, college or pursuing training, but I am no longer needed in the hands-on way I used to be. So what do I do now?
When I consider all the possibilities of what I could do, I feel excited! I could get a job. I could volunteer. I could visit with the elderly. I could pursue a master’s degree. So many ideas flood my mind. But what does my Heavenly Father want me to do?
When the calendar flipped to 2022 and I started to pray about the year ahead, I began to ask God about the end of my homeschooling “career”. I want to seek His direction, knowing that He has a plan and a purpose for me after the kids go off to high school.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11
I don’t like it when I’m in a place of not knowing what’s next. When I’ve lost my sense of control. When I don’t have a plan to follow… but it puts me in a vulnerable place where I have to trust the Lord. I need to trust in His will. Trust His perfect timing. And believe that He means what He says – that He has plans for me, plans to give me a hope and a future!
One night after praying about this, I said to my husband, “I think God is telling me to keep doing what I’m doing and to finish [homeschooling] well. I don’t think I need to worry about what’s next because He’s got it looked after.”
The very next day, I was on the phone with a friend from church. She said she felt she had a word from God for me. She didn’t know what it referred to but that God said, “To keep on doing what you’re doing.” She didn’t know but I did!
So with focus, we finished the school year well. As the summer goes on, I am still being asked repeatedly about what I will do in the fall. I still don’t have an answer. Recently, in an anxious moment of questioning, I decided to fast and pray for His guidance. On the Sunday I started fasting, our pastor preached on the spiritual gifts and about how God has work for us to do. The pastor led us in a verbal declaration of the following:
I am a part of the body of Christ.
I have a purpose.
I have a place where God wants me to serve.
There is work that God has prepared in advance for me.
I will give myself FULLY to discover this work and to accomplish the Will of God for my life.
I am in service to the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
These words were such an affirmation to my heart! He has something for me to do and even though I don’t have the details yet, my heart is at peace. I’m at peace because He spoke to me through a word from one of His followers months ago. I’m at peace because he spoke to me through our pastor one Sunday morning. I’m at peace because of what He says in His Word in verses like Jeremiah 29:11.
We are a part of the body of Christ if we believe in Him and have given our lives to Him. He has a purpose for us; He has a place where He wants us to serve; He has work, prepared in advance, for us to do; He has plans for us, plans to give us hope and a future.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. – 1 Corinthians 12:27
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:10
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11
I don’t know what is in store for me or what I’m doing once the twins go to high school in a few shorts weeks, but I believe God has a plan and work for me to do. He is speaking to me and I trust He is preparing me for what lies ahead.
God is good. God is faithful. God will continue to lead me.
This is what the LORD says –
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you what is best for you,
who directs you in the way you should go.”
Isaiah 48:17
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