Crisis and Journey
By Carolyn
Hulliberger
“A good woman is hard to
find, and worth far more than diamonds.”
I’ve been on a journey the last two years. It started with one
of those momentous times of change in a mother’s life…her child’s senior year
of high school. Every event felt bittersweet during this year of “lasts."
The most difficult part during this time was asking God, “What’s next for ME?”
A crisis of sorts began. I felt led to stop actively ministering
in most of my “formal” capacities. I needed space and time to transition to
this new stage of life. For an ultra-involved person like myself, this was HARD.
God had some new things in mind, and He was leading me to make some room for
them.
God made it clear that He has placed a tremendous need to
nurture in my heart. Dictionary.com defines nurturing as “to feed or protect;
to support and encourage; foster; to bring up; train; educate.” Parenting has
been my primary method of fulfilling that need for nearly 20 years. Even though
my family’s stage is changing - - my internal needs are not. This was such a
huge and freeing revelation!
So my journey began…finding new ways to nurture. Here is what
God has laid out for me so far:
1. For years, I have wanted
to volunteer with our local women’s shelter. God put it on my heart to become
an on-call advocate. In this role, I respond by providing safe transport for someone
who needs to stay at the shelter. I also respond to the hospital if there has
been an assault victim who requests support. I nurture strangers.
2. I have invested more time in one-on-one relationships. These
appointments happen randomly; sometimes it’s lunch, sometimes late evening
texts, etc… But I have the availability for these relationships. I nurture
friends.
3. Work responsibilities have expanded with a new side job. I
nurture the family/college finances.
4. I want to be healthy, both emotionally and physically, for the
years ahead. That means making exercise and stress management a new priority. I
nurture myself.
So what does this have to do with the Proverbs 31 woman? Take a
look at verses 10-31. She nurtures all over the place! She’s a businesswoman,
provides for the family and is generous to the poor. She enjoys her life. She
is kind, pleasant, wise and has tremendous stamina.
I want to be like her when I grow up, don’t you?
GOING DEEPER:
1. God has given all of us
gifts. Have you taken the time to figure out what yours might be?
2. Are you using the gifts
you’ve been given?
FURTHER READING:
Carolyn shares her life adventure
with her husband, Alan, and two children. She works as an insurance
representative and virtual assistant. She serves at Oakwood as a small group co-leader.
