There are days...and then there are days.....

...and that about sums it up.

Spent the weekend at a womens' retreat. My third retreat. Each one has brought about a hmmm moment - or moments. This one was the most intense. Health wise - all in order. Emotional wise - not so in order.

Work has a tendency to define us...or so I've believed for years. When you meet an individual for the first time, the top five questions will always include "so..... what do you do?" - no need to add "for a living" - it's just assumed this is exactly what you're inquiring. It's usually good for a good two minute monolog.

Fast forward 32 years and then the big R hits. Retirement. So....what do I do? And then it hits. I do? I maintain a house (okay, an apartment); I cook (okay, so maybe on a rare occasion); I clean (don't go there) and I quilt. Sometimes quilt. Sometimes less than more.

I make breakfast for my dear husband and me every morning. I pack a lunch for him. I shop for groceries. We walk. What is missing here?

I finally realized the defining of me is not the job I used to have. The defining of me is much more than the 9 to 5 job I held for many years. Part of that job was serving others....completing a project....starting a project...encouraging others to finish a project that was so undesireable to even tackle in the first place....

Serving. What Jesus did on an every hour basis. Serving. A word that means so much more than saying.

Self examining one's life can be very uncomfortable - or it can be challenging.

I choose challenging (she types with trembling fingers).

Not sure where this will take me and my dear husband (as he is always part of the equation) but I do know this ... we all need to serve in some capacity.

It's now just the matter of what God has in store for me.

In the meantime, I think I shall quilt.

Angel45402