3 Things I’m Learning in This Season

In this episode, I’m sharing three things God is gently teaching me in this current season of change—truths about limits, loss, and love that are reshaping how I live and lead. If you’re walking through transition, feeling the stretch between what was and what’s next, I pray this message will help you feel seen, strengthened, and reminded that God is faithful in every season.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome Back After Break
• 3:40 Family Life Update
• 6:33 Church and Ministry Changes
• 9:49 Lesson 1: Prioritizing What Matters
• 14:26 Lesson 2: Grieving While Growing
• 18:44 Lesson 3: Evolving Motherhood
• 20:27 Closing and Future Projects

Transcript

Audrey: 1:13

Hello and welcome back to Grace From my Home. I'm so glad to be back with you again this week. I've taken a short break over the last month and maybe a little over a month and played some of our most listened to podcast episodes, but this week I'm back with a new, brand new episode. This week I just want to give you a little life update, kind of tell you what's going on around here and just share some things with you from my heart. These five weeks that I wasn't recording a regular podcast, I was working on a lot of projects and of course you know you never get done everything you want to get done. I had big goals but I did get a lot done. Not necessarily everything I want to get done, but I got a lot done. But I want to just kind of talk with you today about you know what the Lord is teaching me in this season. We're always learning. You know, if we're smart, if we want to grow, then we have to always be learning. You know if we're smart, if we're, if we want to grow, then we have to always be learning. You know I'm in a. I'm in a, just to give you a little background. I'm in a place where I've never been this year. I had one child. My oldest son graduated from high school. So I have a high school graduate and I'm so extremely proud of him. He's working this summer and he'll start in the fall. He's in Honors College at Coastal Carolina University and we're so proud of him. He's going to stay on campus and we think that's a great idea. We think that'll be wonderful for him. And then my middle son he'll be a senior next year and he's already looking at colleges. He wants to play football on the college level and so we're looking at some schools and he's been traveling and he's got lots of camps this summer and things like that. And then my youngest son he'll be a sophomore in high school next year and they were all homeschooled and if you listen to the podcast, you know that I homeschooled all of them up until through the eighth grade and then they entered into public high school. And so this past year was my first year in the last 12 years where I did not homeschool. But they have done great, they've done well and I'm very proud of them.

Audrey: 3:40

In the last, since March, my husband stepped down as the pastor of our church, where he had served in that role for 16 years. He is also the principal at the high school where my boys attended, which made their transition easier. For me, I'll admit we have a unique situation, but he stepped down as the lead pastor of our church and it just had become too much. He was a full-time pastor, full-time principal and working on his PhD and just didn't feel like he was doing either job well and after prayer, he believed that the Lord had showed him that it was time for him to step aside. Well, we, in a lot of ways, did that role together because he was full-time in the public school system. We tag-teamed as far as speaking on Sunday. I helped him in a lot of ways and I felt like it was appropriate, when he stepped down, for me also to give up a lot of those roles and responsibilities. That's something that we've done together for 16 years. So we are in a state of transition.

Audrey: 4:49

One of the things I am still doing is I'm managing the coffee shop that our church owns, and I do that with my sister. We opened that. This summer will be two years since we opened and so, if you do, if you were a longtime listener, you've heard the story. You've heard. As you know, as we opened two years ago and I've been podcasting here at Grace for my home this, it will be my fourth summer. So for three years I've podcasted and blogged and I'm going into my fourth year and I've just been reflecting a lot lately, thinking because when your oldest child graduates, you do a lot of soul searching and I'm sure you ladies who have multiple kids, who have left the home and gone into the world and graduated and even even, you know, married with kids I haven't gotten there yet, but I'm sure you understand how, at each junction it's kind of like a reflection, like did I do it right? You know, did I do the right things? Did I do enough of the right things? Did I do you know too much of the wrong things? And so you know I'm I'm naturally an introvert and I self-reflect and I like to think about things.

Audrey: 6:00

And just the last few months I've had a lot on my mind and that was one of the reasons I wanted to take a break was because when I'm constantly pouring out and pouring out, it's hard to fill up, it's hard to hear God, you know, and we really need to hear from the Lord, not just to pour out to other people, not just to hear a word or a message for someone else, but for yourself, and I had gotten to a point where I wasn't doing that. You know, every time I came to the Lord and I was reading the word, I'm thinking who can I share this with? Or, you know, lord give me a message that people need to hear this week. And so I needed some time where I just talked to the Lord for me, and so this short break I had helped me, it gave me an opportunity to do that, and I'm thankful. I'm thankful for that. So thank you for being patient with me, thank you for coming back, but I want to share with you today three things that I've learned in this season, in the season that I'm in, the season of change, and I hope that these things will encourage you. I could list more than three, but I want to keep it short.

Audrey: 7:12

So, three things that I've learned in this season. The first is I can do anything, but I can't do everything. You know, we have such freedom in Christ. God gives us such freedom to choose the things that we want to do with our lives. You know, we live in a country where we have that freedom to choose. You know what direction do we want to go in? And, of course, hopefully, if you love the Lord, if you believe the Lord and trust him, then you pray about those decisions. But there's such flexibility and I have I'm a dreamer I have all these ideas. You know, at any given day I have all these ideas floating around in my head, things I'd like to do, I'd love to do.

Audrey: 8:02

And you know, when I was younger I felt like I could do anything. But when you get older, you realize that you, number one, you don't have the time. But when you get older, you realize that you, number one, you don't have the time, like the time left. You know, I'm past 50 now and, unless I, you know, live to be 104, I'm over halfway. And so when you pass those mile markers, you start thinking you know, am I doing the right things? Am I doing the things I'm supposed to be doing?

Audrey: 8:25

Because this time really matters, and so we can't do everything. And you know, my body tells me, you know, you can't do it. All the days, the weeks, the months that I think I can, and I keep pushing and, pushing and pushing, my body comes back and says no, you can't. And so we have to choose wisely what we're going to do. We can do anything, but we can't do everything, and we have to choose what things are most important. And so during this time it has, during this time of transition, during this time of change, it's really made me think what am I supposed to be doing? You know I don't, I can't do it all. I have a wonderful. What am I supposed to be doing? You know I don't, I can't do it all. I have a wonderful, I have wonderful ideas and things I would love to do, but what are the most important things? You know, if I had 10 years left, what would I want to be able to say at the end of that 10 years that I accomplished? And so, you know, when time gets shorter, we hopefully get more focused. And so that's one of the things that I've learned over this period of transition is I can do anything, but I can't do everything.

Audrey: 9:33

Number two is is that it's okay to grieve and to grow at the same time. You know, I come to you each week and I don't like to share with you a lot of the struggles that I'm going through, because I like to show those on the other side. You know, if I'm in the middle of the struggle I don't know that that's very helpful. It might be more discouraging than encouraging. I like to share my struggles after I've reached the other side and I can look back and say look where God has brought me. But I've been through some struggles that just don't seem to be letting go. But I've realized during this period that I can both celebrate what God's doing in me now at the same time that I am grieving the things that I miss.

Audrey: 10:23

I told you about homeschooling. I loved homeschooling, loved it for 12 years. You know I had my children here under my roof and and we read together, we had nature walks and we had fun breakfasts together where we did devotionals and we just. I enjoyed homeschooling and I enjoyed my children. And when my last one last year, when Caleb went to public school it wasn't easy for me I remember he would go with me to the coffee shop on the days that I worked and he would help me in the afternoon when things calmed down. There we would do his schoolwork and you know, and then after work each day I go to the bank and make a deposit and he would sit in the car and listen to the radio or do something while I was in the bank. When I got out he'd always be waiting on me.

Audrey: 11:19

And last year, when he went to public school and I would come out of the bank and I would get you know, get into my van and he wasn't there. I missed him. You know, those days when I got up early and to go and he wasn't there. I missed him, you know, and because he was my last, and I missed those days on the couch with all of my boys, and the fact that that time was over made me really sad and I couldn't shake it. I knew it was a good, I knew it was good, I knew it was right, I knew they had made the right decision and that I had made the right decision to homeschool them. And then they had made the right decision that it was time to go to public school and God had answered our prayers by leading us and guiding us. But I still missed him and I missed them and I missed our life. I missed our homeschool life, you know, and even now, with the church and you know I'm still close to everyone in that church we left on wonderful terms. That's my family, you know, and we're still there, actually, we're still members of that church. That's our church, but it's different, you know. It's different.

Audrey: 12:28

Trying to find your place, trying to back up so other people can lead. That's not easy and there's a grieving process. You know. There's a realignment. You know, lord, what are you doing here and now? When I look back at these two things that seem to have been removed from my life, I see where these other things got added before those things were taken away. That really helped.

Audrey: 12:59

You know, I think sometimes as moms you know, homeschool moms, stay at home moms we get so wrapped up in that life that when it's over and it is an assignment, it is a season, it's not a forever assignment. I mean I'll always be a mom, but that part of motherhood is gone. And I think if the Lord knew I was going to need other things, and so I'm very thankful for the podcast and blogging and for the coffee shop, because that gives me a place where I can serve, I can love others, I can pour out in another way, and I didn't realize how much I was going to need that. And so you know it, just those things God knew and he leads us, he sets things up for us. So I'm very thankful for that. But I've learned during this season that I can grieve it's good to grieve things that you love, that are gone, and at the same time I can grow. I don't have to stop doing one to do the other, and that's good. You know to do the other, and that's good. You know.

Audrey: 14:12

The third thing that the Lord is teaching me and has been teaching me during this thing, that my role as a mom. It's changing, but I'm still needed. No, they, they need me, they just don't need me. In the same way, I am becoming an advisor to my children, more and more. You know they they still, thankfully asked me for advice, they asked me to pray. I love it when I get a text from one of my boys and say mama, please pray. You know I've got this test coming up. Or, mama Remember, mama, please pray. You know I've got this test coming up. Or Mama, remember this today. I need you to pray for this Because, number one, it means that they trust me with their prayers, with the things that are important to them, but also they trust God. You know they believe in the power of prayer, and so I'm honored when they text me and say, mama, I need you to pray for this. But now I'm more of an advisor Now and of course that's different for the 18-year-old versus the 14-year-old, but I'm learning, and they're learning that our roles have changed.

Audrey: 15:14

My oldest has done some things and I so didn't want him to do it. I'm like, no, that's not wise, don't do that. But sometimes you have to do those him to do it. I'm like, no, that's not wise, don't do that. But sometimes you have to do those things to learn them. You know me telling you not to do them. That doesn't help you at all down the road. We often, you know we can give our children wisdom, but there comes a time when all we can do is give it. We can't make them do the right things, and that's really true even when they're small, but when they get older, we can't make them. I mean, even if we want to make them, we can't make them.

Audrey: 15:47

And so I'm learning to let go. I'm learning to let go. I'm learning what my role is. I'm learning that relationship is still key. When I have a strong relationship with my children, they care more about the things I want to share with them. They want to know my opinion on things Doesn't necessarily mean they're going to take it, but they care about my opinion. My opinion matters to them because they know I care about them. And that's true not just between us and our children. That's true for anyone, but I'm thankful for that tie between me and my boys. That's true for anyone, but I'm thankful for that tie between me and my boys. That is our relationship and I want to keep that strong. And I'm learning. I stumble, I fall, I mess up sometimes when it comes to relationship, especially as my role is changing. But I'm learning that they still need me. You know I can't just say, well, ok, they're, they're grown now, they're 18 or 17, 18. They don't need mom anymore. They do, and I want to be there, I want to be available when they need me and in the way they need me. And that goes right back to, you know, priority.

Audrey: 16:53

You know, during this season, like I said, the first thing, I can do anything, but I can't do everything. And if I try to do everything, then I don't have time for them. I don't have time for people. You know, have you ever been so busy and you're so, you stretch so thin that everything is stressful, like you don't have time to really stop and think and reflect, and you know it's just like, oh, I got to get the next thing done, I got to check off the list, and you know people are not on the list and don't have time for that. And that's why I want to be careful with my time, I want to be careful with my energy, because I don't want to run out of steam and not have any time, any energy, any strength for the people, and especially for my family, for the people and especially for my family. And so during this season, you know, though, I can look back now and see where God has been teaching me and training me. At the time I didn't feel it at the time, I just felt like this is a hard season and I don't like it. But I'm thankful that God is God through the hard seasons, through the good seasons, through the bad seasons. He's never letting go, he loves us, he's never letting go, he loves us, he's committed to us and he's never letting go. Amen.

Audrey: 18:07

Before I go, I want to share a scripture with you. I want to read to you from 1 Thessalonians 5, starting in verse 23. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. Amen, let's pray.

Audrey: 18:34

Father, I thank you that you know what we need, even when we think we know what we need, lord, you know what we really need and you love us enough to be patient with us and to lead us and guide us, and sometimes you don't give us what we want. You give us what we need and I pray that, lord, you would revive us. I pray for seasons of refreshing. I pray, lord, god, for renewed hope. I thank you, lord, that you're pruning us, that you're cutting off the dead weight so that we can be more fruitful. I thank you that the best is yet to come and that you are faithful and you're doing it, and we love you, lord, and we give you honor in Jesus name. Thank you for joining me here again this week.

Audrey: 19:19

I did get a lot done during my short break. I have my second book complete, or I should say it's the manuscript is complete. There's a lot of work to do with proofing and editing and those kinds of things. But the hard work the hardest work for me is done and I'm excited about that. In the next few weeks I will share some of those things with you. I also have a live event coming up soon and I'm still ironing out the details on that, but I will share that with you, hopefully next week. And I am working on my second podcast. I want to do a daily devotional podcast just a verse and an encouraging word to get your morning started. That's something that's been on my heart for a long time and hopefully in the next few weeks I can get that underway. God bless, hope you have a great week. See you again next week.