Is your nest emptying? Dealing with transition can be hard! It is both an exciting and difficult time as you process the loss you feel as your kids move out. We need to remember that as The Lord lets us go through the hardship of our children leaving because He has dreams for our kids, He also has dreams for us. We don’t need to apologize for pouring into our kids or needing to be poured into ourselves. But as we are dealing with transiton, we need be mindful of what we are preparing for in the season ahead without trying to step out of the season we are in.
Join Kathi and Marci Seither as they talk about Marci’s book Empty Nest and discuss tips for dealing with transition, as well as handling the clutter those kids can leave behind. Plus, we will learn how to be kind to ourselves in dealing with the transition from being a hands on mom turned mom of adults.
Giveaway
Leave a comment about one thing you did, or anticipate doing, to ease yourself through the time of dealing with transition when your child(ren) left home for the chance to win one of 3 books we’re giving away!
*US residents only
Bonus
Empty Nest Promo PDF
Meet Our Guest
Marci Seither
Marci Seither’s writing career began after her humor article was published in the small-town newspaper. Since then she has authored two books and hundreds of articles for local papers as well as contributing to national publications such as Guideposts, Light & Life, and Focus On The Family.
Hi Tommie,
Congratulations! You are one of the winners of the book giveaway! I will contact you for your mailing address. Thank you for participating!
Thank you soooo much! I’m so excited!
I didn’t know it at the time, but God began preparing me for my son’s transition into adulthood when my son was in high school, by sending me to college – I thought to just “fulfill a goal”. Then He took a Liberal Studies Degree (which I jokingly called the Nothing Degree) and turned it into a career of teaching English classes in Adult Education, and more recently, as a College and Career Adviser, both of which are part time, which this semi-retired lady loves. My situation of being a mom of an adult with a disability, who still lives at home, is a little different from an empty-nest mom, however. But there are parallels in that my relationship with my son, who has his own living space in our home, had to completely change from one of continually teaching, to that of letting him live out what he was taught. It’s very difficult for me to decrease and let the Lord increase in his life at times because of his Asperger’s, but the work God has given me to do certainly takes me away from the mom always being there role. The funny thing is, my students are mostly those with disabilities: emotional, learning, cognitive, etc., and my son is happy and thriving. God certainly has a unique plan for each one of us.
Hi Laurie,
Congratulations! You are one of the winners of the giveaway! I will send you an email for your mailing address. Thank you for participating!
Thank you Chere – I’m very excited about receiving Marci’s book!
“God has a plan, a perfect plan for your life apart from raising
your kids. It is like a gift. We can choose to open it or not open it, but it is a gift all the same.” Reflecting on this statement, I am not ready to be an empty nester so soon. These last 7 years of infertility has shown me that that’s what might be around the corner for me. I still pray that God will bless me with more children, but if He chooses not to, I need to let go to embrace the next stage.
I try to be very mindful when I am talking to them to not dole our advice unless asked or even remind them that they need to do such and such. They get aggravated when I do that so I have been trying very hard to just listen and then pray really hard that they do the right thing! My girls – age 28 and 24. I miss the young days of parenting and basketball and softball games and making gingerbread houses and coloring Easter eggs and carving pumpkins. But I just grab my little nephews and try to make myself feel better! 🙂
I am anticipating my oldest flying the nest for college next fall. We have one bedroom with two good sized closets. For now, he can have one closet for his “off season”, “summer/winter break” or “I’m keeping this for my apartment someday” stuff. He will share this room with a brother who will primarily have his own room!
Hi Tara,
Congratulations! You are one of the winners of the giveaway! I will send you an email for your mailing address. Thank you for participating!
My plan when my son is ready to move out will be to lock him up in a closet. LOL ?Totally just kidding. He is 6 and right now I can’t imagine what my home will be like without him in it at this point. Great podcast. Thanks for prepping me early.
When our youngest left for college this school year, the Lord opened doors for me to start a Master’s program – I’m so busy I don’t miss my boys as much as I would if I were sitting around thinking about missing soccer or basketball season which were huge parts of our lives for so many years. Added bonus; both of our boys have helped me navigate going back to school, for example, homework due by midnight submitted online (not a part of my B.A. over 25 years ago!) and this commonality gives us plenty of talking points when we are together.
I have kept every, and I mean every, school paper since my 20 year old was a toddler. My project is to take pictures of many of them and make an album. I don’t need the item to have the memory. It’s been fun working on this project. I look forward to the finished book.