Empty Nest

There is always the starting point at birth, and at some point the finish line. There are so many ways to define this finish line. For the Swallow, it could be defined as death when she closes her eyes on earth and wakes up to eternity with her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, or it could also be defined as "Rapture" when her Lord and Saviour returns again to bring her and all who trusts in Him to Heaven to spend eternity with Him. Either way, a finish line awaits. Between these two points, it is life. A journey.

Life is a journey.

When the Swallow was younger, the journey stretched out before her with possibilities. Hopes. Dreams. Milestones. Then the journey became one of faith, and she chose to follow her Lord wherever He led her.

That was Singapore, and in this country, she was given many opportunities to grow her faith. Leaving the comfort of home, family and friends...finding a new church...starting a new job.

Then came marriage and motherhood. Learning to understand her mate, managing her young ones and the household on a full-time basis, coping with additional work here and there. Routines, time-tables, deadlines, monotony, and mundane chores challenged her at many points of the journey. Days became weeks, months, years...again and again, opportunities given to grow her faith. Her Lord never failed her.

She had thought life was difficult and challenging, but with her Lord as her strength and refuge, she coped and managed and pressed on.

Now, the young ones have grown. An empty nest.

How does one cope with an empty nest?


For a long while, the Swallow couldn't. It didn't help that her mate was going through his own challenging time of a mid-career switch. Hopes of travel plans, after the young ones were grown, had to be set aside. Medical issues complicated dreams. The next milestone seemed so very far away.

And she started to doubt. And covet.

Hearing her friends' travel plans, their and their young ones' achievements...and for a long time, she questioned her choices.

Should she have stayed in Malaysia?
Should she have married later? Not marry at all?
Build her career first? Strengthen her nest egg first?
Travel more when she was younger, fitter?

It didn't help that she had so much more time on her hands. And though she was busy with her hands, her mind was able to wander to unwise territories. Her head and her heart were at loggerheads so often, it zapped her of energy. Lethargy set in. Despondency replaced faith. She lost focus.

But she was loved. Her Lord didn't give up on her. Again and again, He called out to her.

Hebrews 13: 5 (NKJV)
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV)
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10 (NKJV)
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed - always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

John 12:24-25 (NKJV)
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

John 16:33 (NKJV)
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Psalm 23:1-4 (NIV)
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

And He reminded her..."This is your temporary home."

So it is with renewed faith, she has chosen to listen to her heart, where the Spirit of the Lord resides. It will still be a challenging time. A difficult period of adjusting to an empty nest. But her Lord who has gone before her still goes before her, and she only needs to hear His voice and follow Him...wholeheartedly.