Get a Life

“A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy,

but I came to give life—life in all its fullness.” 

John 10:10 ncv

Recently, a single friend moaned that she has “no life.” Between caring for her aging mother and bi-polar daughter, and working two jobs—one which is a 4:00am conference call with people in India and the other, a new business she opened—she has no time for a “life.” She has no time to do anything for pleasure or with other people who don’t need her—dining at nice restaurants, going to movies or concerts, or long walks on the infamous beach.

As I listened, I wondered what she might do differently so as to have a social life. I wondered what her “life” once looked like or how long ago she’d had one.

 

And then I wondered if I have or ever had a “life.”

Years ago, as an introduction in a Bible study group, we were asked to give our name and tell our hobby. I answered, “My kids,” because they consumed my time and my life. It sounded terrible to call “my kids” a hobby. It didn’t seem that I had a “life” of my own.

When they grew up, went off to college, got jobs, got married, and we moved away, I became a long-distant, empty-nest mom. They no longer dictate my “life” with ball games, music concerts, or Scout outings. I no longer oversee their school assignments, nurse them when they’re sick, or chauffer them hither and yon. Now I’m a sounding board, a financial advisor, and life coach to my adult children.

          So, do I and did I ever have “life?”

Yes; yes, I did and still do have a “life.”

It’s not a life as the world defines a “life” but yes, I have a fulfilling “life” beyond motherhood. 

Bible study groups, choirs, and women’s ministries were squeezed in between my sons’ activities. When our nest became empty, I continued with such activities and then God added writing groups to my “life.”  [At this time of moving twice in two years I’m rebuilding my “life.”]

Jesus said, “…I came to give life with joy and abundance,”

while the enemy comes like a thief  “…with malicious intent,

looking to steal, slaughter, and destroy…”

(John 10:10 The Voice)

Do you have a joyful, abundant “life?” What does it look like? How does it work?