Happily Ever After

Once upon a time, there was a young woman who dreamed of an ever after that comprised of a successful career, an inventory of material luxuries, and the flexibility & time to globe-trot the world. In this dream, she would later set down roots in a tidy, suburban, cookie-cutter home; get married (only after independently establishing herself & satisfying her wanderlust); and eventually, have kids – just two: one boy, one girl. Maybe there would be a dog, because that would perfectly round out the annual Christmas card.

Life threw a curve ball when she met a guy from a completely different world than hers, before she even graduated university. She did marry (sooner than she ever planned), and was only able to climb her dream ladder for a couple years before a second pink line ripped her from the rungs. She cried that day, not out of joy, but from uncertainty of the necessary detour before her; the crafted vision of her life slipping from her fingers.

Within a handful of years, that young woman’s vision for success & happiness dissipated into the reality of life staying home to raise three young, sticky kids.

Her life is messy, weary, and oftentimes intimidating. The days can be mundane and monotonous, and challenges that come from being with miniature-sized human beings around the clock can cause doubt about why she is even treading this road. There are no societal accolades and personal pursuits have been surrendered indefinitely.

But this life at home is also stretching & humbling her in ways that her once tightly held dreams never could have. It’s a different kind of dream … a living one that her mind never constructed, one that (she is realizing) is actually a privilege that will bring invaluable reward as she sacrificially pours out her days teaching, training, & discipling the precious souls under her care. Sleep-deprived prayers are thrown up and a whisper comes down, “You are raising a next-generation army for me.”

And so, she plods along, compelled by her love for the Life Giver, seeking to steward well this honorable life He has gifted her with – a life that is very much her happily, ever after.

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This was/is part of my story. It took about a decade for me to not only own it, but to glory in it. Those sticky, weary days of raising littles are now behind me, and in its place is the sweet fruit of rich relationship with my bigs, cultivated over years of pouring out into them. But not because of anything I did … only all because of what God did in me, as I continued/continue to put one foot in front of the other, often falling forward as I desperately tried/try to grasp on to the tailcoat of Jesus. There is a reason why He is known as The Way.

I want to encourage those reading this: God has placed you exactly where He wants you to be, with the people in front of you, in the context you are currently experiencing. Whether it be motherhood, marriage, work, etc. All of your life – past, present, and future – is part of the unique story only God has given/is giving you.

Your joys are gifts of God’s grace and mercy.

Your struggles are God’s gifts for growth and santification.

But in it all, He is ever present … calling you keep your eyes on Him. I pray that, in Christ and because of His cross, you may recognize that you, too, are living your happily, ever after.