Changes.....empty nest!

A month ago I dropped one of my sons off to live and work with his Dad for the year. This marked a beginning and an end! Two days prior I had dropped his twin brother off at the airport for his year long adventure in a different province. It was official, my incredible children have all left home (for how long...time will tell).

What a feeling....after twenty five years of raising children I was alone. A weekend away with a few of my children to attend my nephew's wedding was next on the agenda. We traveled together and spent the weekend with extended family. The wedding was beautiful as we witnessed two people who genuinely loved and respected one another commit to a lifetime of serving one another.

I found myself very reflective this weekend as I looked at my extended family, my mother aging with Alzheimers, my father just learning that is last sibling was near death, my brother and his wife in the process of adding a young girl to their family and my children all experiencing milestones in the past 90 days. WOW! So very much to be thankful for and yet so reminders of how temporary this life is. We spend so much time planning events like weddings, post-secondary education and career moves, in search of what?

Choosing to fully engage in the moments I became very aware of how each memory adds to the richness of the experience called life!

So...as a chapter was ending, I shed a few tears and then realized each ending is a new beginning. Just like the bride and groom that have given up their single lives to start a new family unit, I was starting a new adventure.

At the age of 49, with God's help we have raised 5 incredible children that all know who they are. I remembered the conscious decision at 26 to put my children first and now am very thankful for that decision. This stage.....empty nested, I have been set free to pursue what God had in store for me next.

The realization that I've been given gifts that involve people, technology and a love for business led to the start up of Touch Marketing. I am declaring my fiftieth year of life to be one of complete surrender to my faith journey and continue to develop the fruit of the spirit. Discipline...here I come.

My goal this year - Fit at Fifty! Both physically and financially.  I am excited to pursue all that God has in store for me as a Grandmother, Business Partner and Woman.
This week's reading - GREATEST SALESMAN IN THE WORLD by OG MANDINO. Time to put into practice The 10 scrolls mentioned in this book.