Welcome
2012 is here and is already busy at my home. I don’t know
about at your house. My daughter reminded me on New Year’s
what a momentous year this will be. In this year she will turn 18,
graduate from high school, and start college. Yes, I’m old
enough now to be of those mothers that says, “wasn’t
she a baby yesterday?” It is so true. Welcome to CWMs with
children of all ages. My wish for 2012 for you is you will grow
in your relationship with God and trust Him in all things.
Prayer Partner Needed
We have a CWM who would like a prayer partner. Prayer partners
meet each other virtually. They agree to pray for one another’s
needs. For many CWMs they feel like they are the only CWM in their
church. So, it is important to have support from other CWMs. If
you would like a prayer partner, send an email to Kimberly@kimberlychastain.com
with prayer partner in the subject heading.
Coaching
The New Year is here and with that comes all kinds of resolutions.
It is often hard to stay accountable to the resolutions you set.
That is where coaching comes in. A coach can guide and help you
stay accountable with the goals you have set or goals you may want
to set. If you are interested in a coaching session, send an email
to Kimberly@kimberlychastain.com
and put coaching in the subject heading.
Article – God is the Conductor in our Lives
We often laugh in our house that we are rich in instruments and
books. At last count we have over 20+ instruments in my house and
I don’t even want to count how many books we own. Everyone
in my family plays a musical instrument (Mom is definitely the least
proficient!). Music is a part of the fabric of our home. Recently,
I began to think about the music of our lives and God as the Conductor
in our lives.
Over the years I have been too many band concerts for my children.
I always enjoy when the conductor shares the story behind a piece
and how you can hear the story through music. A great piece of music
will have lots of variation. Often, you will hear a strong bass
line that goes throughout the piece. Sometimes, with the flutes
and clarinets you will hear light, playful music. With trumpets
and other instruments there will be a flourish or strong loud crescendo
for emphasis. Hearing each of the parts individually does not sound
spectacular in and of itself, but together it sounds beautiful.
Are you wondering where I’m going with all of this? I realize
in our lives there are moments of great fun and excitement. There
are flourishes and life is playful. Sometimes, there is the monotonous
note that keeps playing over and over, think laundry, dishes, cleaning
the house, etc. That note is always there. Life can often be played
in the minor key where we are bogged down and depressed. We don’t
think we can take another step or handle another disappointment.
We can have staccato notes in our lives, a short repetitive note
that seems to beat continually. Often, we can see our lives on hold
for what seems like forever waiting for the next note.
Yet, in all the notes in our life there is a conductor, God, who
is orchestrating the playful notes and the sorrowful notes in our
lives. Sometimes his conducting seems clearly obvious and sometimes
we don’t know if we can see His direction. One thing I have
noticed in all the band concerts I have attended is the various
styles of conducting. Some conductors have very large movements,
some have small movements with their hands, and some you can’t
follow at all. Still they are all conductors.
What I want you to hear from my music analogy is that God is conducting
your life and there may be times that you don’t like how He
is conducting. You may want more direction or you don’t like
the direction He is leading. Maybe this is a slow, quiet thoughtful
passage of music in your life right now and you want something louder.
Maybe your life is being played in a minor key and you want to get
back to a major key where everything seems okay. Your loving God
is working all the pieces of your past, present, and future for
the great symphony He has created for you and your life. Can you
trust Him to be the Conductor and take you where He leads? When
a band takes their eyes off of the conductor and doesn’t follow
the band quickly falls apart. The same thing is true of our lives.
Often, we want to take the baton out of God’s hands and be
in charge. When we do we see the music hitting a sour note in our
lives. We come back with a sorrowful, repentant heart and give the
baton back to God.
In God’s eyes there is no sense of time, there isn’t
a past, present, or future. He seems our entire lives at one time.
So, whatever you are going through right now God sees where you
end up. His conducting of your life right now is often for something
you can’t even see or know that is coming in the future.
Are you going to allow God to be the conductor in your life and
let Him keep the baton or will you struggle with Him to get control?
God is the author of music and makes beautiful music. Allow Him
to make beautiful music in your life including all the joyful and
sorrowful notes.
Can I add one more thought? God is also the conductor in our children’s
lives as well, not us. We need to allow God to work in their lives
and not get in the way.
Final Thoughts
A good conductor can also help you recover from those clunker notes
we all hit from time to time. God can make beautiful music even
out of our terrible missed notes.
Till next time,
Kimberly M. Chastain
Kimberly M. Chastain, MS, LMFT is the Christian Working
Mom Coach and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She is the
author of The Voices of Christian Working Moms, 2 ebooks and an
online Bible study. To find out how to receive coaching tips by
email daily, go to http://www.kimberlychastain.com/cwmtips.htm.
To find out more about her books go to www.christianworkingmom.com.
For a free, initial coaching session send an email to free@kimberlychastain.com.
