My Tuesday morning gang has given me so many amazing things to share with all of you. SO many wonderful women came to be encouraged and strengthened in their parenting journey and we covered every subject under the sun…From marriage, to sex, to toddlerhood, teens and beyond we just dug in and got real.
I LOVE those women. And every week when I had them under my roof I remembered that there are THOUSANDS more just like them that check in on this little slice of bloghood every week. What an amazing little army God is raising.
Big hug and kiss to every one of you.
One mommy-to-be asked about daycare. She’s expecting her first and with so many different ages, stages and approaches to parenting in the room I was so blessed to hear all of the incredible experience and encouragement coming her way. What a sisterhood we have in each other.
And one mama had this simple yet profound outlook.
With her four children she had tried it all. Nannies, daycare, kid-share, and staying home. She basically responded that after trying it all, daycare worked best for her, but then she added…
“Make your choice, but you’re not married to it. You can change your mind at any time.”
Amen.
Because when you’re a strong-minded loyal kinda gal who likes to make up her mind and move on, sometimes we forget that we haven’t made some life long compact with anyone or anything except our husband.
Want to home-school? Great. If it doesn’t work out, you’re not married to it.
Send them to school? Great. No covenant made there.
Switch schools? Switch teams? Switch pediatricians? Change jobs? Move houses? And dare I even say it…change churches?
Look, I GET commitment. And likely, you, my regular readers do too. You’re committed to your families or you wouldn’t be investing time to regularly refuel and fight on. You ARE the committed people who stick it out in your communities, schools, churches, and careers probably way longer than most of the people you know!
You are the loyal friend. The long-term loving confidante who is walking in the door to help others when everyone else is walking out. You are the hard-working, never-give-up-never-say-die kind of folks and so it’s hard to sometimes just MOVE ON.
But I would like to give you the freedom to sometimes…just…try something else. Walk away. Be done. Of course, don’t be flippant. Of course invest into your community, your schools, your churches. Of course, be committed. Make a decision and be loyal.
But give yourself the freedom to make mistakes, change your mind, or outgrow or have different needs in different seasons of your life.
After all, you can make a decision…but you’re not married to it.
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