You Were Made for This

I pulled up to the stop sign not far from my neighborhood. Music floated through the car like fog – not loud enough to be truly heard, but not quite soft enough to equate silence. The sun was shining. I turned right at the stop to meet a friend for walking at the mall in what turned out to be a Friday ritual. In the back seat was my new baby, my first-born son. No other children yet to grace the spots behind me. One year earlier, I was standing at a white board teaching phonics and double-digit subtraction with twenty-four sets of eyes on my every move. And then there was one. Just one tiny set of eyes that watched me.

This was the day it hit me.

I was made for this.

I’d dreamed of becoming a mother. From the day we first married, I prayed – God, please allow me to be a stay-at-home mom. And He did. My stop sign moment, that point in time I realized I was following God’s calling, was at the corner of Simonton and New Hope Road. Does God have the same intentions for every woman blessed enough to become a mother? No. He has different plans for each of us. But I knew God had called me there.

Fast forward eight years and two more babies. I’m up to my armpits in laundry, baby toys, and school projects. You could write your name in the dust on my dresser. My garden tub has a brightly colored boat and crew in one corner and four of Barbie’s dancing princesses in the other. My way small TV has handprints across the front and I’m pretty sure there is a Kix cereal stuck on the back of my leg.

At my desk, where I rarely find time to write, there are love notes from the kids alongside the unpaid bills coming extremely close to being due.

I’m tired, my house is dirty, and I’m in desperate need of a shower. There are days when I just want to pull my hair out – one by one. (I’ll start with the grey ones.) But then God reminds me, You were made for this. And He takes me back to that place in the car with the music and the baby, and He helps me to remember.

I was made for this.

What is it that God has called you to do? What were you made for? If you too have been plucking out your hair and wondering what you’re doing, go back to that place where you first realized it. The place you stopped because you heard your Father whispering…

You were made for this.

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 NIV

9 Responses to You Were Made for This
  1. Meaghan Jackson
    May 20, 2012 | 5:32 am

    Thank you! These days I feel like life has drowned out that calling from the LORD. I think I need to quiet myself in order to hear Him again.

    • Carol Hatcher
      May 20, 2012 | 1:52 pm

      You are welcome, Meaghan. I have to constantly turn down the roar of life to listen to God. It’s so peaceful and re-energizing to get alone with Him. 🙂 Praying you’ll have a moment where God confirms in you His calling.

  2. Susie Klein
    May 20, 2012 | 10:51 am

    Great writing and wonderful message! This stage of family life is hard and sweet isn’t it? Believe it or not, this too will pass and the following seasons will be just as hard and sweet but in different ways.
    You sound like you have the secret for enjoying each season as it comes, great gift!

    • Carol Hatcher
      May 20, 2012 | 1:55 pm

      Thanks, Susie! Each stage has its own treasures. With kids from ages 2 to 10, I’m experiencing a lot of different stages at once! There are certainly days where I want to scream, but I remind myself that my opportunity to touch them with my love and teach them about God’s love is really short. And in those moments, I just overlook the dog hair and the dishes piling in the sink and focus on the three “blessings” I’ve been given. 🙂

  3. Barbie
    May 25, 2012 | 1:15 am

    My children are older now, but as a full time working mom still raising my kids, I can so relate. My house is a disaster and I haven’t the energy to clean it. I know He’s called me to serve full-time at the church, but it’s hard when I can never seem to get caught up!

    • Carol Hatcher
      May 25, 2012 | 3:32 pm

      It’s hard sometimes to see what it is we are supposed to do. It’s times like this I just pray each step at a time. 🙂

  4. Kimberly
    May 27, 2012 | 2:21 pm

    You make me laugh. You make me smile. You make me realize it is okay if there is dust thick enough to write in. 🙂

    Great post, friend! And a great reminder that just because we are made for something, it doesn’t mean that everything will always go perfectly smoothly and stay perfectly neat. There may be Kix involved. LOL.

    Thanking Him today for all of the pairs of shoes all over my house. I love the feet that wear them. 🙂

    • Carol Hatcher
      June 2, 2012 | 9:19 pm

      Thanks, Kimberly. You make me smile, too! Don’t mind the Frosted Flakes stuck and dried in my teeth. 😉

  5. Christine
    June 7, 2012 | 5:12 am

    I love that. What I need to do when I start getting scared is “go back to that place where you first realized it” and see how far God’s brought me already. You have given me something to think about all day. : )

    Christine