Wednesday, September 30, 2015

The Best Way Out Is Always Through. Today Through Is Reaching Out To Encircle Moms

I found a greeting card with this message on it when I was first going through infertility at age 25. It spoke to me and I framed it and set it in my window over my kitchen sink. If I knew then what I would look back on almost 35 years later, I don't know how I would have walked down my life path.

Seeing it from this side is a reflection of always walking through and letting faith, friends, and family hold my hand, at times carry me through. This simple saying was always present in our home and we mentioned it often during rough patches.

The truth of life is that it is not always pleasant. There are heartbreaks and tragedies in each of our lives. Our task is to keep moving through and realize there is light at the end of even the darkest tunnels.

I have been going through a season of loneliness. Others would not see my life in that light. I am busy with work and have a beautiful family and precious friends. But something inside me has been stalling when it comes to connecting with others. Isolation has been my enemy and I have to push against it daily. This is a moment in time that I need to walk through and not begin to believe that it defines the rest of my life. The best way out is always through.

God has placed a task on my heart that will take me into the lives of others in a way that is familiar. Years ago, my mom gave people rides who had cancer. She sat with a book for hours as they had their chemo treatments. When my kids were young I coordinated volunteers and gave rides to people who needed to get to medical appointments through the HELP Program and the Lion's Club.

Tonight using the HELP model of coordinating support for others while giving our volunteers a purpose. Truly a win-win situation I believe. We are launching a movement in Los Alamos to support young moms with full nests and little time to themselves. I am not alone in my empty nest, time on my hand circumstance. So we are launching Encircling Moms to give much needed short breaks to active, overworked moms.

Each of us remembers in the throngs of raising our kids wishing for an hour, just an hour to catch our breath. Ladies my age are in a perfect position to enjoy an hour, just an hour with some little people while giving a desperately needed break to a mom.

Please pray for us tonight as we explore how to bring this from idea to reality. Small scale is the way to go. No one obligated just like in the Help program. Just a phone call for need, a few phone calls to find someone who is available. Two lives are blessed by a connection that matters.

Stepping out in faith that I can break out of my isolating patterns. God has given me this opportunity. It is up to me to pick up the pace and walk through. The best way out is always through.

In Him,
Joyful
9-30-15

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