How are You Traveling Heavenward?

When I accepted the invitation to do a workshop for the Transformed Philadelphia Conference, I didn't remember how hard it is to prepare for such an event.  My topic is:

Living with Purpose on Purpose in the Afternoon of Life.

As soon as I accepted the invitation I began researching scripture and reading all kinds of books. Now I have way more information than I can possibly share in one workshop. So some of what lands on the cutting room floor will find its way into my blog. I've started praying for the other speakers because I'm pretty sure many of them are facing the same dilemma!

As I try to decide what content makes the "cut" I'm thinking of the kind of women who might be attending this workshop. Per Elyse Fitzpatrick in her book,

The Afternoon of Life,

the afternoon of life is 46 - 60 years of age. I expect there will be young women who are curious about how to grow old with grace (yes, I know that when you are 20 or 30, you think that 40 and up is really old). And the women who are just starting this chapter, those who are almost moving into the evening of life and women like me, who are already in the evening. I call my season of life the Twilight Zone. It just seems surreal at times!

I'm also asking, "What are the expectations of those attending?" Some might be looking for a "recipe," others just want to know how to make the most of each day. Some want help in "finishing strong." But then there are those who have experienced great loss and are desperate for how to find purpose and significance in this broken world. There is the woman whose husband abandoned her, the young widow, the single mom, the grandmother whose grandchildren don't care about her, the career woman who loves her job but is starting to feel restless and wants to do something that has an eternal impact. The woman whose medical diagnosis just shattered her well-planned life, the newly retired woman whose husband is suddenly critically ill, the mother who is struggling because her children have left the nest. Or the single woman who thought marriage was the key to life but is realizing that marriage is harder than she ever imagined. The woman whose young adult children are moving far away, so far she will rarely see them or her grandchildren. The many faces of women are endless but one thing is common - we all experience loss and change, no matter the season of life.

What can I share that includes a universal message of help and hope for living with purpose on purpose in the afternoon of life when circumstances are so varied? And share it in forty-five minutes?

Mary Winslow, a woman whose life and writings continue to guide me in this broken world, asked a recently widowed woman, "How are you traveling heavenward?"

Mary had the right to ask that question, because she experienced great sorrow. Shortly after immigrating to New York with ten children, she lost her infant daughter. Before the baby could be buried, she received word from overseas that her husband had died. Imagine, widowed at forty, responsible for nine children and scarcely settled in America, her entire life was turned upside down. One reason this woman has touched me so deeply, is because for months she struggled with depression and spiritual darkness. She later wrote that God used that despondency to turn on the light of His grace in her life,  writing "I think I have learned more of my dreadfully wicked heart, and the preciousness of Jesus during this trial that I ever learnt before." Through this terrifying and anguished time, where she experienced loss of her child, her husband and the daunting responsibility of caring for her nine children in a foreign country, Mary learned how to maintain an unwavering faith during times of suffering (compilation from introduction to Heaven Opened, by Octavius Winslow).

To the widow she wrote, "How are you traveling heavenward? Is it well with you, and are you enjoying the light of His countenance, without which nothing on earth can give true happiness, either here or hereafter? Is Jesus precious? Are you enabled to say, "My best Beloved is mine, and I am His? You do not forget, I trust, that as a widow you have a double claim upon God, not only as His child, but as His widowed child....And what is more, all things are yours, because you belong to Christ and Christ is God's beloved Son and unspeakable gift. Then be of good courage, live by faith in the Song of God, and walk with your heavenly Father in your journey homeward, shortening every hour."

Heaven Opened, The Correspondence of Mary Winslow by Octavius Winslow, pages 123-125

I think that's where I'll start. How are  you traveling heavenward?

In His grip,

Sharon

PS If you are curious about how to live with purpose on purpose in the afternoon of life, I'll be sharing some of the workshop content on my blog and lots of the content that ended up on the cutting room floor in future blogs.