co-workers

It seems like a million years ago that I worked outside of the home. For those of you that may not know, I used to be a teacher. The first year I didn't go back to teaching, people would ask me fairly often if I missed it. I don't get that much anymore - perhaps because it seems like a million years ago ;) The answer was always and continues to be the same - not really. I liked my job and I think I was pretty good at it, but I really wanted to have babies and stay at home. I mostly miss my co-workers. I worked with some really fabulous people and there was just something about going somewhere every day where people just knew what was going on. They may not have known everything about my personal life, but they knew about the work I was doing. I didn't have to explain specific struggles with specific students - they just got it. I didn't have to explain an interaction with a parent, because most of them had been there. It was comfortable and even if I sometimes felt out of control, I knew there were people that had been there before. They were such an encouragement just by having a shared experience.

I was reading a friend's blog today. She shared about a recent mama meltdown that she'd had and I felt myself nodding along- Yes, I know exactly what you mean! I've totally been there...ok, this morning I was there.....and maybe last night..  She then shared some really encouraging words from a blog that she follows, which I really appreciated.

I feel like every time I'm on facebook one of my friends shares a post about motherhood followed with the comment something along the lines of "such an encouragement". And I realized today, it's just like my experience with my co-workers. I love reading other mom's blogs because I'm reminded that I have co-laborers. It's so easy for me to think that I'm the only one that knows what I'm going through. A few weeks ago I got to spend some time (on the beach!) with a new friend. I can't explain how much life she breathed into me, just by talking about her two girls. Every time she shared something, I was like, YES! Thank you, I'm not alone and I'm not just totally jacking up my kids!

All of this to say, I'm incredibly grateful that the Lord has placed so many wise women as co-laborers in this crazy job of motherhood. You don't have to be a mother to point me to Jesus, and I have plenty of friends like that that I am grateful for, but there are certainly times when I find so much comfort in not having to explain. It's like we all work at different branches of the same company :) And one of the absolute best things about our move here has been all of the women in different stages of life that I'm able to learn from. Thanks to all of you who share the ups, the downs, the good, the bad, and the ugly and who use these experiences to know Christ more fully and remind others (like me) how good He truly is.