A Prayer for a Mom Approaching the Empty Nest

“Nothing has meaning without a context.” - Bobb Biehl The context for today’s blog post emerges from a heart-to-heart conversation between two women who love Jesus and long desperately to walk with Him through all of life’s passages. Join us, please. You would fit right in!

My cherished friend and I sat leisurely across from each other over lunch; neither of us felt in a hurry to leave. Months had elapsed since life afforded us the opportunity to be face-to-face, and today our fellowship seemed as rich as the food was delicious.

But alas, the clock eventually forced us to part, and reluctantly we grabbed our purses, slid out of the booth, pulled out our keys, and headed to the parking lot. However, as we drove our separate ways, her question about the upcoming empty nest stayed with me.

This unavoidable, life-altering transition waits on her horizon, and our table topic discussion plumbed the depths of what that will mean. Later, with her situation in mind, I revisited my own transition to the empty nest. With empathy and compassion, I felt led to write the following prayer, not just for her but for any mom facing this adjustment.

“Dear loving heavenly Father,

Everything reminds me that I face an impending monumental change: the empty nest. It feels like mine has been the world’s best job, and now I must contend with unemployment. Oh, Father, when I look ahead, I can get anxious; yet when I look at You, I am at peace. So, for this moment in time, I ask You to please enable me to determine not to go there until I get there. May I not lose the wonder of the moments granted to me now.

With a decision of my will, I choose to believe that the empty nest will not be an empty experience, because You already have plans of welfare and not calamity in store for me. Thus, Father, will You please infuse me with hope and expectation to believe that the empty nest is, indeed, filled with good works, which You have prepared for me before the foundation of the world? By faith, I want to smile at the future.

Between now and then, as the gears begin to shift more and more, will You enable me, by Your Spirit, to be others-focused and not self-consumed? Will You please stir my heart to believe that when I get there, You will already be waiting with Open Arms to welcome me as You fill my empty nest with the fullness of Your Presence?

In the Name of Jesus, I love You and I lean into You, my Rock,

Amen.”

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

“And she smiles at the future” (Proverbs 31:25).

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

“He has also set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

“I am the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Where have you seen God show up as you move from one season of life to another?

Have these transitions been challenging or enjoyable, or both?

How can you find hope or offer hope as you (or a friend of yours) face the empty nest?

Please share your insights. What you offer is meaningful!

Meet Barbara Spooner

England has been much in the news of late with the death and funeral of her beloved longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. With my own tea and tears, I sat alone and watched for twelve hours as the world bade farewell to this amazing woman. Now today, another exceptional English lady, of far less notoriety, is the focus of this blog post: Barbara Spooner.

“Barbara Spooner became the wife of William Wilberforce, the leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. Imagine! Two weeks after their initial meeting, Wilberforce proposed marriage to this remarkable lady, to which Barbara agreed. They were married a month later, six weeks after they met.

“They were held as such an example of strength and fidelity that those around them—and around the country—took notice. ”

— World-Changers: Live to Serve

The marriage of William and Barbara was so strong, so unshakable, that historians agree it had an impact on the institution of marriage in England for the next 50 years. They were held as such an example of strength and fidelity that those around them—and around the country—took notice.

“They raised the bar and modeled something for their culture that was rarely seen at the time. ”

— Ibid

The pair ran against the culture of the time, which said it was acceptable to demean women or to be unfaithful to your wife. Add to that, Barbara’s constant exposure to the public—she was very much a public figure in her husband’s life. All these things combined so well that their marriage—and the strength of it—became public knowledge. They raised the bar and modeled something for their culture that was rarely seen at the time.

More importantly, Barbara had a tremendous impact on her husband. She was his constant encourager, his staunch ally, and his fiercest friend. She helped him carry the abolition banner for the rest of his life.”*

Barbara Spooner

1771-1847

*Bob Beltz and Walt Kallestad. World-Changers: Live to Serve. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2007. Print.

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

"He has also placed eternity in human hearts" (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds" (Romans 12:1).

How did this world-changing couple live counter to the culture of their day?

What attributes of their marriage encourage us today?

If Queen Elizabeth and Barbara Spooner could have met, what do you think they would have discussed?

How Can I Pray for You?

How Can I pray for you?

My answer comes from a Roman prison cell. Paul in his Letter to the Colossians tells the church how he brings them before God in prayer. And he doesn’t leave out anything.

“For this reason since I first heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1: 9-14).

According to Dr. Charles Stanley, “This prayer covers every area of our lives that needs the Lord’s touch.” Furthermore, I have found that committing the passage to memory brings even deeper meaning to intercession for my precious family.

So now when asked, “How can I pray for you?”: “Colossians 1:9-14,” is my heartfelt response. And, I look forward to heaven when the amazing answers are revealed!

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

“He has also set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3":11).

As you read these verses, which element of this prayer means the most to you?

How would you like to proceed in committing this prayer to memory?