The Empty Nest

There are many different stages in life from childhood to golden years. One of the most hard to understand and adjust to for us was empty nest. Did you have problems or is your nest still chirping? We had friends tell us how great it is. No kids equals no rules. Whoopee! Problem was we loved our children and hated seeing each one of them fly the nest. We weren’t exactly rule breakers either.

Isn’t it funny how parents spend their lives making sure children turn into independent, successful adults but don’t want them to leave home? It was fun to have the house all to ourselves for a few days but before the week was over I was ready for them to come back. My daughter stayed home until she got married. Our son and daughter-in-law bought a house a few weeks before their wedding. He moved in to work on it and she waited until they were married. Our house has never felt quite right without them.

Then when the grandbabies started coming I wished for a life that I saw on television shows where families all lived in one great big house. You know, like Dallas. We did this when we went on vacation together. We rented one big cabin with multiple bedrooms and bathrooms with one huge great room. I loved it! This mama hen likes all her chicks, their chicks, and her old rooster under one roof.

Family is where I find the truest form of love next to Jesus and then my husband. Jesus died for me. There can be no truer love than that. Hands down. My dear husband has loved me for many years, since 1982. We finish each other’s sentences and communicate wordlessly with a look. It is as natural for me to love him as it is for me to breathe. Love for family is like that. Undying, unconditional love. The kind that lasts forever. I want the best for each of my children, and I include their spouses when I speak about my kids. I get tears of love when I think about my grandchildren and my prayers for their future. It is comforting that I don’t know what their future holds but I know Who holds their future. I am thankful that my children are Christians and are raising their children in the church.

Cherish your children. Teach them what they need to know. In a short time your nest will be empty and those fun days just a memory. The next chapter is fun in a different way. Arm your children for their future so that they might in turn teach their own kiddos. Get ready for the empty nest. It comes to all of us.

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim. 3:14-15 NIV

“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Prov. 22:6 NIV