“And nothing galvanizes me like encountering a bully.” I couldn’t help but smile. I felt like I read a description of myself in that line. Thank you for sharing pieces of your journey with us! I’m always edified by your perspective.
"But what I did get to do during those years, in terms of the blend of professional and personal life that I eventually came to, was think. I thought all the time, and talked with my children, my husband, and my friends. And that helped the ideas to be ready for later."
This statement I think describes where most of my writerly/professional work happens these days. I am only 8 years into parenting my three sons. I don't have the capacity yet to do meaningful work/have output on the side. But I AM doing a lot of thinking and engaging with my husband and kids every day. I trust God will use that storehouse to do something meaningful outside the home someday too.
He will! I think there is so much value in the “Hidden Years” of our lives- Jesus set the example for that of spending 30 years in a quiet home life in Nazareth before starting his public ministry. And then someone like St Paul spent 3 hidden years after his conversion- God does a lot of quiet work in our souls in these seasons of life. Plus on a human level, there are lots of opportunities for testing out and incubating ideas. I’m really glad I wasn’t widely publishing in my early 20s, for example - my thoughts (and opinions ;) needed time to simmer.
Thank you for these reminders and encouragements, Kerri! I do think that as I enter my 40s soon, I'll be increasingly thankful that I spent my 30s thinking and incubating rather than blathering on and missing the important hidden work.
Thank you so much, Kerri! I am really excited about this series and am honored to be the first interviewee. I really enjoyed answering these very thought-provoking questions.
I love this series concept! Such a good idea, and such a good interview.
"Over time, I found myself observing the way that different aspects of my life and character were interpreted by the people I met. After I finished my dissertation, was I a disappointment to my mentors because I only taught part-time afterwards? Or was I, instead, a traitor to homemaking for teaching part-time? In teaching part-time, did I somehow imply to others that a mother of (by then several) young children was inherently doing something wrong if she worked full-time?" This paragraph here really got me. There are so many imagined and real expectations (set by the world, set by various subcultures, set by your friends and family, set by your local community, set by yourself!) that obscure choosing what is actually best for you and your family. But when each person is unique, each family is unique, and each season of life is unique, this creates such an unnecessary burden and gets in the way of living out one's vocation.
It seems to me that honest self-reflection and discernment, and joyfully pursuing the various desires, goals, duties, and skills God has given us is vitally important but also so very hard to do.
Thanks Emily! And yes! The joyful but often very difficult work of discerning our unique lives is something no one can do on our behalf. But when we do it well - by which I mean, intentionally, not always outwardly “successfully” - with God’s help there is so much peace and freedom and joy that follows.
My hope with this series is that it encourages readers to be free of those unnecessary imagined and real expectations. I’m so grateful Dixie started us off so strong with it!
Thanks, Emily! I wish I could have fast-forwarded my maturity to this point of being true to myself without beating myself up. I love how Kerri puts it: "The joyful but often very difficult work of discerning our unique lives is something no one can do on our behalf." I can't wait to see the forthcoming interviews in the series. My understanding is that Kerri will be interviewing a variety of kinds of people, which I'm excited about -- often, for example, this kind of series ignores single people or married people without children, but I know that Kerri has some plans to address people in all different states of life!
“And nothing galvanizes me like encountering a bully.” I couldn’t help but smile. I felt like I read a description of myself in that line. Thank you for sharing pieces of your journey with us! I’m always edified by your perspective.
Thank you so much, Emily! Yes, once my aunt told me that my brother says I'm "stubborn." I was like NO, I just get GALVANIZED!
Ah, perspective...but that same brother also says I'm gentle, so I'll take it :)
"But what I did get to do during those years, in terms of the blend of professional and personal life that I eventually came to, was think. I thought all the time, and talked with my children, my husband, and my friends. And that helped the ideas to be ready for later."
This statement I think describes where most of my writerly/professional work happens these days. I am only 8 years into parenting my three sons. I don't have the capacity yet to do meaningful work/have output on the side. But I AM doing a lot of thinking and engaging with my husband and kids every day. I trust God will use that storehouse to do something meaningful outside the home someday too.
He will! I think there is so much value in the “Hidden Years” of our lives- Jesus set the example for that of spending 30 years in a quiet home life in Nazareth before starting his public ministry. And then someone like St Paul spent 3 hidden years after his conversion- God does a lot of quiet work in our souls in these seasons of life. Plus on a human level, there are lots of opportunities for testing out and incubating ideas. I’m really glad I wasn’t widely publishing in my early 20s, for example - my thoughts (and opinions ;) needed time to simmer.
Thank you for these reminders and encouragements, Kerri! I do think that as I enter my 40s soon, I'll be increasingly thankful that I spent my 30s thinking and incubating rather than blathering on and missing the important hidden work.
Thank you so much, Kerri! I am really excited about this series and am honored to be the first interviewee. I really enjoyed answering these very thought-provoking questions.
I love this series concept! Such a good idea, and such a good interview.
"Over time, I found myself observing the way that different aspects of my life and character were interpreted by the people I met. After I finished my dissertation, was I a disappointment to my mentors because I only taught part-time afterwards? Or was I, instead, a traitor to homemaking for teaching part-time? In teaching part-time, did I somehow imply to others that a mother of (by then several) young children was inherently doing something wrong if she worked full-time?" This paragraph here really got me. There are so many imagined and real expectations (set by the world, set by various subcultures, set by your friends and family, set by your local community, set by yourself!) that obscure choosing what is actually best for you and your family. But when each person is unique, each family is unique, and each season of life is unique, this creates such an unnecessary burden and gets in the way of living out one's vocation.
It seems to me that honest self-reflection and discernment, and joyfully pursuing the various desires, goals, duties, and skills God has given us is vitally important but also so very hard to do.
Thanks Emily! And yes! The joyful but often very difficult work of discerning our unique lives is something no one can do on our behalf. But when we do it well - by which I mean, intentionally, not always outwardly “successfully” - with God’s help there is so much peace and freedom and joy that follows.
My hope with this series is that it encourages readers to be free of those unnecessary imagined and real expectations. I’m so grateful Dixie started us off so strong with it!
Thanks, Emily! I wish I could have fast-forwarded my maturity to this point of being true to myself without beating myself up. I love how Kerri puts it: "The joyful but often very difficult work of discerning our unique lives is something no one can do on our behalf." I can't wait to see the forthcoming interviews in the series. My understanding is that Kerri will be interviewing a variety of kinds of people, which I'm excited about -- often, for example, this kind of series ignores single people or married people without children, but I know that Kerri has some plans to address people in all different states of life!