A Life-Changing, Run-of-the-Mill, Kind of Moment

Last night, I was waiting for a girlfriend to pick me up. We were ready to go out with some other friends for her birthday dinner. I expected her sometime between 5:00 & 5:30. As the minutes ticked by after 5:30, I knew something was going wrong. Between a series of cell phone calls and our eventual face-to-face chat, I pieced together a life-changing, run-of-the-mill kind of moment.

As often happens, one problem had led to another, causing her tardiness. 

During the day, she spent the morning at the zoo with her two young children (Role of Mother) and had helped her parents work out the logistics of bringing her brother home from the hospital after a recent surgery (Role of Servant). 

After getting home, she hurried to feed the little ones (Homemaker). When everyone was ready to leave again, they headed to the car. Along the way she realized her toddler’s backside was a little, um, wet. Upon further investigation, she realized moisture was not the only issue going on inside his pants and outside of his diaper (Mother). 

Somewhere along the way, her phone rang and she was pulled into a conversation with a construction contractor. My friend runs her own interior design business. The contractor and she were trying to work through a deal-breaker issue with a mutual client (Businesswoman). 

By this point, she found herself trying to keep a pre-schooler quiet, change a toddler’s diaper on the passenger side front seat of her car, and carry on an intelligent business conversation on her cell phone tucked between her ear and shoulder. 

Eventually all was clean, both babies were safely strapped into their car seats, and she was on the road. She called her husband to see where he wanted to meet to switch cars so he could take care of the children for the evening. Turns out he was already home, having arrived only moments after she left. Amongst all the chaos, communication with her husband had broken down (Wife). She turned the car around, backtracked to where he met her halfway, turned the car around again, and was on her way to meet me so we could go out to celebrate the birthday of her and another friend (Mentor).

All seven of her roles as a woman converged in that one hectic half hour. Wife, mother, mentor, servant, homemaker, and businesswoman all forced themselves into her life at one time, demanding her attention. All the while, she’s trying to maintain the witness and lifestyle of a child of God.

God never promises life will be easy as a Chayil Woman. (For more on what it means to be a Chayil Woman, check out my Bible study, Seven Roles, One Woman.) But we can rest in knowing He recognizes the stress and pressure of having our hearts tugged in so many directions all at once. We also can know that since He has called each of us as women to these seven different roles that He will strengthen and equip us to carry out the responsibilities of each.

From my title, how can one moment be life-changing and run-of-the-mill at the same time? This story can be an average, ordinary event for a woman. Many of us have had this type of thing happen – maybe not weekly, but probably every few months or so. Stop and consider, though, that these moments can also be life changing. If we look, this is a time when we can see God working to grow us, stretch us, and mold us into Christ-like Chayil Women.

To my sister out there,

“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”

(Proverbs 31:29)

Join in the conversation and leave a comment: How have you seen God grow and stretch you in those run-of-the-mill, life-changing moments?