Living water...Day 29

"living water" by Leanne

I have been thinking about the woman at the well lately. I must admit, I have always strongly identified with her…not that I have had several husbands…but that I have known paralyzing shame and deep emptiness at times in my life; before I met Jesus.

Interestingly, as I reflect on how my heart and mind are doing in regards to an emptying nest,  I am, once again, experiencing the lonely ache of emptiness.  It seems to hover in the air most days.  It won’t be long now before there are no more dirty socks left under the coffee table, or stinky shin guards on the kitchen counter…I won’t walk in the kitchen to see one of the kids guzzling milk straight out of the gallon jug, or filling their cereal bowl so full of Fruit Loops that it spills over onto the counter…no more tucks-ins, check-ins, no more lunches to pack…no more, “Hey Mom, come see this!” coming from the family room. And, I am really going to miss Brian tapping and drumming on everything! There will be a strange quietness and calm in our home which for 23 years we have affectionately call “Camp Chaos" Heavy sigh.

But.God has been gently showing me that although my role as a mother is changing, my identity as a child of God is not, and that is what will get me through this transition.

So I find myself tonight at the well again…not for salvation, which I have full assurance of already…but for identity, for a soft and servant heart, for a sense of purpose.  I am hopeful, and grateful; approaching the well…

Fill my cup Lord…make me whole…

 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 4: 13-14