Life as We Knew It

There is an old country song called "Life as We Knew It Ended Today." 
That is how I have felt today. Not melancholy, just recognizing reality. 
The end of an era is here. 

I have been a SAHM (stay at home mom) since Nov of 2000. Twenty-four years is a long time, folks!  You know how some books are broken down into sections & then chapters? The book of motherhood started a new section when I became a widowed mom. And today I close the section on SAHM. 

Monday I start working full-time outside the home again. I will always be a mom, but all my sons are adults. They need me just in different ways now. The Lord has provided this new job as a way to provide for me and grow me in this next chapter of life. 

Today has felt like the last day of a vacation, soaking it all in knowing this time is ending, yet knowing a new duty is calling. I walked around the yard just enjoying the usual evening songs of our usual robin, cardinal, and wren, with occasional red-winged blackbird and the goldfinch. Tonight the beautiful song of an indigo bunting echoed through the trees. When the boys were little I used to say the mama birds were singing their babies to sleep and it was time for them to go to sleep too. 

The sweet smell of the wild phlox brought another smile to my face. I love how the Lord has planted them all around my yard and in the woods here. Suddenly I notice a creature in the cemetery. It was a deer bedded down under a low hanging branch of a tree that stretches into the northeast side of the cemetery. There has been a lot of rain, so we haven't gotten the grass in there mowed yet. The tall grass must have made the deer feel safe to take a nap there. It scampered away soon after I realized it was there. 

But it still felt magical. Another reminder from God to appreciate the little things. Soak it all in. And stay alert to simple wonders. Especially when life is changing. 










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