Mother's column – time to be a fulltime mother again

09-09-2023

Christian Life

Thanks to a push message on my phone, I end up on LinkedIn after a long time of absence. It is a good thing to keep abreast of the business ups and downs of former classmates, family members and vague acquaintances, isn't it? A former colleague who only a year ago spoke highly of "a new challenge at a great company" is now, for instance, announcing with much fanfare a leap of faith as a self-employed person.

I scroll down a bit more. A teacher unknown to me announces that she has completed her training as a coach and henceforth wants to "empower" other teachers. Someone in my network has responded enthusiastically to the message, so now I am informed of the big news too. It only takes ten minutes before I'm done with LinkedIn again. All those entrepreneurial people with big ambitions, great results and high-scoring personal reflections. All those posts in which everyone tags each other for extra views, so that cordiality and professionalism are blatantly mixed up. And above all: all those restless job hoppers taking on new challenges every few years.

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Of course, if you feel out of place somewhere, it may be a courageous thing to start a new chapter. Also, some people simply like pioneering more than staying somewhere for the long term. But faithfulness is still an important Christian value, not only when it comes to marriage. Living the Christian life may involve taking on the challenge to stay where you are and to be a blessing in that specific place.

Meaningless

Yet, it is an important skill to know when it is time to quit. This applies to world leaders as well as to columnists. When authors run out of inspiration, they e should not bother others with meaningless articles. Therefore, when I started writing columns 3.5 years ago, I firmly resolved to quit in time. I also resolved that, when I would wave goodbye after all, I would not do so by surprise in the last paragraph. I have experienced this too often myself: while enjoying my favourite column I would suddenly discover in the penultimate line that this was the last episode.

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That is why I am telling you now that I am going to stop, but a very last column of mine will appear on this website in a fortnight's time. And after that, I will put my heart and soul into an old challenge that is new every day: becoming more like the excellent wife described in Proverbs 31.