When Idealism Fades

The Internet Cafe Welcomes Joanna Shumaker today!

That you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please him in all respects. Col 1:10 (NASB)

I really didn’t want to believe that I was in the time of life called your “mid-life”! I didn’t have the enthusiasm for life that I had in my youth, and frankly, didn’t have the body from my youth, either! As I took note of my life, I realized that I had not accomplished much of what I set out to do.

My career was not my main priority anymore. My life revolved around my children. I am in the phase of life called the “Everybody Else” phase. It is a rather empty place to be in life. What about this time of life is so unsatisfying? How do I find fulfillment during this time?These are the questions that we all face at some point in our life.

What I have found is that my focus needs to be on what God wants for me at this time – not what I thought He wanted in the past. I am to live my life to please God in all that I do. It doesn’t matter what the name of my “job” is: mother, housewife, secretary, administrator, president, nurse, etc. What matters is that I live my life worthy of His name.

The fulfillment comes in being for God what He wants, not doing for God. A friend of mine from college encourages me so much with this part of my spiritual walk. She has had rheumatoid arthritis since the age of eight. She had so many dreams to fulfill, but her disease has kept her from doing these things. However, she has never let her disease change who she is. Whether she is sitting at home in pain, or able to be out and about, she is the same gracious person all the time. She has not let the pain and frustration of her disease cripple her heart. She lives her life worthy of His name. She has found who God has made her to be and she is fulfilled.When what we are gets lost in the whirlwind of life going on around us, find out who you are in Christ and focus on being for God all that He wants.

He will take care of the doing part in your life.

“Father, help me not to be so caught up in what I do for you, that I lose sight of who you want me to be. Help me be a person who shows your love, kindness, and goodness. May I live a life worth of Your name.”

Who has God made you to be?

How have you found in him working in your life, molding you into a person who reflects Christ in all that you are, not all that you do?

In Him,
Joanna

After moving from coast to coast for much of her 19 years of marriage, Joanna and her husband Dave are now settled in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania where she is a busy mom, coach, writer, photographer and administrator (of the family schedule!) Between keeping up with her children’s schedules and coaching with her husband, she finds time to write devotionals and bible studies for women. She grew up in a Christian environment where her family’s faith in God prepared her for life. She came to know the Lord at a very young age which is the basis for continued growth and understanding of who God is and what He has done for her.

After experience her own disillusionment in life, Joanna has a desire for sharing hope and healing for other women who are experiencing the same. Her devotionals focus on the goodness of God in the midst of disillusionment, difficulty, and trials. She writes for two online magazines, Christian Devotions and Catapult Magazine. You can read her message of hope and healing on her blog at www.renewingyourspirit.wordpress.com