Life Update

This week and past weekend has been a bit difficult, since my sister moved out (the first one of us siblings to do so). My college semester began on Thursday (the 22nd) so I raced to get all the initial "welcome to the course" assignments done that day, for all five classes (my sixth class, that Organic Chemistry Lab, begins mid-September). Then, the very next day (Friday, the 23rd), my entire family piled into our cars and drove north. We stopped for the night (Friday night) then, on Saturday, we helped my sister move into her place, which she is renting with two co-workers. It was a difficult day, especially for my mom. After we said our goodbyes and drove away, we stayed at a place on Saturday night and arrived home later on Sunday afternoon. By that time, I had to unpack and there was no time to do schoolwork.

Which...brought me to Monday and oh. my. word. Monday was one crazy day for me. It was definitely made worse by sleeping in late, but then I had the benefit of the "panic monster" waking up in me, sending me into overdrive for the rest of the day. I pounded out a ton of coursework until late in the evening, and finally collapsed in bed with the confidence that I had bought myself nearly a week until the next assignments were due. 

Today (Tuesday) was much easier. I got up early, wrote a journal entry (I've been doing that weekly for years now), and met a friend for coffee. We chatted for about an hour (in my opinion, that's the perfect amount of time to sit with someone for a coffee) and then I returned home and kept to a tight schedule of knocking out more coursework. 

As much as I needed that little breath of fresh air, my mom needed it even more. She devoted some time today to self-care by meeting one of her friends for a coffee in the afternoon. Now, this might sound like a simple thing, but you must understand my mom. She never takes a moment for herself. She is constantly working, prepping meals, cleaning up, managing schedules, handling bills and finances, coordinating the dual-enrollment classes for my younger siblings... I cannot list all the things she does, because it's beyond my knowledge. I am often overwhelmed when I think about all that she does in the few hours of a single day. 

Yet, my mom recognized that she's in a difficult stage of life right now and that she needs community (side note: I told her the other night, when she mentioned that she was planning to meet a friend for coffee, that I thought it was a "good idea" and that she "needs a social life", which was terrible phrasing on my part - I should have said that she "needs community"; my mom rightfully called me out for being rude). 

Anyway, I thought it was a very brave thing for my mom to do - recognizing her need for community and taking steps of self-care. Many people can be too stubborn to do so, and end up burning out or suffering a meltdown. Honestly, I was really worried about my mom and about how she would handle this season of one child "leaving the nest", but now I am reassured that she has the wisdom (from God) to navigate these days. 

"There is a time for everything, and a 

season for every activity under the heavens."

Ecclesiastes 3:1

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