“His life is bound up in the lad’s life.”
Genesis 44:30
“I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”
Philippians 4:11
Although our husband must always come first, many of us mothers find our hearts bound up in the life of our children. Of course I knew that our children would move along someday, but I found myself unprepared for the pain I felt when our first child left home. Even though I knew she was doing well, I felt incomplete as my nest began to empty. Like Job I longed, “Oh that I were as in months ... when my children were about me!” (Job 29:2-5). I have since discovered that a lot of mothers find this hard. It helped me to remember that “to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and ... a time to lose” (Ecc. 3:1-9).
Philippians 4:11 helped me as well: “I have learnt in those circumstances in which I am, to be satisfied” (JND translation). God wants us to be satisfied with our circumstances whatever they are. It’s easy to be always wanting what is not. Sometimes we are so busy we wish for a break, and then when the house is too quiet we wish our children home again. Perhaps when our children are small we wish them more grown up, and when they are big we wish them small again. The Spanish Bible translates Philippians 4:11 simply, “Content with the present.” I wrote out this verse and hung it where I could read it often to challenge myself to be content with whatever my present circumstances were — a full quiver or an emptying one, dirty clothes or an empty hamper.