My purpose I am gifted for motherhood.
My mouth salivates as he shakes the contents and pours the liquid into a long stemmed glass. We toast to freedom and success. Finally, my husband and I are free from parenthood. We successfully raised two gifted daughters for the purpose of sending them into adulthood to thrive as independent women.
It was a twenty-one year journey. Our eldest daughter was preparing to graduate college, working both a job and an internship, along with her studies. While our youngest had completed basic training and boot camp for the Air National Guard. She was preparing to start her undergrad college years. Both girls have bright futures and we decided to celebrate our successes as their parents.
We, my husband and I, made two individuals, custom, made-to-order human beings. Both beautiful examples of God’s handiwork.
“For you made the parts inside of me. You put me together inside my mother. I will give thanks to You, for the greatness of the way brings fear. Your works are great and my soul knows it very well. My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret and put together with care in the deep part of the earth. Your eyes saw me before I was put together. And all the days of my life were written in Your book before any of them came to be”
Psalms 139:13-16 NLV
We prided ourselves on our daughter’s accomplishments as if we alone did the hard work for their achievements. Sure we created life and nurtured them into adulthood, but it is God who creates the master plan for each of their lives. God gifted each of our daughters with their skill sets and they made wise choices along the way.
Not only did I fail to thank God for His gifts, but I failed to model womanly, Christian, behavior to my daughters. Resorting to worshiping the spirit in the bottle not the Holy Spirit.
And, then I did my best to self-destruct.
To read more of my story of self-destruction see https://grow-together.blog/2023/03/18/the-curator-of-your-story/
Enough about me…
Meet Amy a woman gifted for a purpose.
During my journey of self-discovery God has been placing just the right people on my path to assist with my healing. My friend Amy, a woman who just appeared in my life, through Facebook, has demonstrated the importance of being proactive to avoid disaster.
Amy is a teacher, businesswoman, social media micro influencer, advocate and most importantly a mother. She inspires and educates on health & wellness, entrepreneurship and autism as she shares her journey. On top of fulfilling her purposes, Amy has a passion for glamping, reading devotionals to her online community and offering tips for wealth building.
Who is Amy? And what do her and I have in common?
Amy and I are both mothers. We love our children fiercely. Amy has two sons, her younger son lives independently while her eldest son is dependent. Aric is a twenty-three-year-old, adult child, and is autistic. Amy’s job as a mother is not over but ongoing.
Both Amy and I got lost along the way. Our identities got wrapped up in our children and formed by the perception received from the culture surrounding us. Following our childrearing years we both felt we lacked in purpose.
Being a mother is by far the most precious gift and everything we do as a mother is purposeful. But all to often we lose sight of that purpose. When we lose our purpose we lose ourselves. We stop nurturing ourselves, letting ourselves go; mentally, physically, and spiritually.
When we lose our purpose we lose ourselves.
Follow Amy’s journey on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/amy.koring
Where we differ…
I resolved myself to the idea that my job as mother was completed. Once my daughter’s matured into adulthood I did not see how I fit into the picture. During the time my daughter’s established their independence I had stopped working within my career field. Gradually over the years I felt my time with volunteer work was served and I stopped helping others. This was a choice I consciously made.
My life was void of purpose and when the pandemic hit our household I chose an unhealthy alternative, alcohol. The void eliminated a passion for design which once offered me additional value. But worse, when I eliminated my volunteer work and stopped donating monetarily my heart hardened. I became less compassionate. When COVID hit I became selfish and I allowed a growing problem with alcohol take root.
The difference is that while I awaited my self-destruction following a year of COVID, Amy was proactive. Having a child with autism Amy derived her purpose from motherhood. She and her husband did not toast freedom from parenthood but leaned into parenting. Together they created a blog, About the A-team, https://aboutthea-team.com/ sharing on Facebook the daily routine of parenting a child with autism.
Gifted for a purpose that keeps giving.
Amy stepped one foot outside the role of motherhood while keeping the other foot firmly planted.
Amy stepped one foot outside the role of motherhood while keeping the other foot firmly planted. She entered into a business arrangement which gave her the opportunity to grow. The products she sold, not only benefitted her family, but helped other women find happiness and fulfillment.
Just like Amy I discovered my purpose. What I failed to recognize is I am capable of so much more. Time I once spent leisurely having a glass or two of wine in the evenings I started to spend time with other women at recovery meetings. I discovered that we women (and men) all share the same daily struggles and many of us feel as if we are all alone.
I may not be interested in sales or marketing of products, but I have a passion for marketing words. God has gifted me with my purpose. My purpose is to share my weaknesses to strengthen others. Verbal communication is not one of my strengths, but by enriching myself with God’s word I receive the confidence to share. The words started flowing and the grow-together blog was created.
I choose to journal my way through healing, starting at rehabilitation. When I was ready I started to publicly share. Not only does blogging continue to help me heal, but it reaches people during their struggles.
Amy and I both started to use our unique gifts to lead others and offer hope. We haven’t even met in person but have been learning from each other via our social media. She has given me encouragement and offered me strength when needed and I have emboldened her to share publicly.
Gifted for a God-given purpose.
Many of us go through life overlooking our purpose. We are created uniquely, beautifully handcrafted, by God. Each gifted with a God-given purpose. All of God’s children, even an adult with autism has a purpose. It is up to each of us to nurture our God-given gifts and share with others.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10 NIV
Discover your purpose with Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life https://www.purposedriven.com/
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