Christian women are taught to think of their children as arrows. 

”As arrows are in the hand of a warrior, so are the children born in one’s youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full...”   Psalm 127:4,5

And it’s true.  But the Lord has sent me here today, and He has sent you here today, to hear something else - also true:  that arrow metaphor can be ANY creative seed that you launch out into the world with intention.  It can also be any gift that you aim and shoot with all your might, any gift given to you in seed form, that you have to nurture and grow, and that has the capacity to go on beyond you. 

 Your children are not your life’s only arrows.

I know, right?  It’s like I just spoke heresy. 

I have four grown children of my own.  They are my arrows.  They are unequivocally a heritage and a blessing.  But they are not the only things I have to offer this world, and they are not the only weapons I have been given with which to impact darkness.  If that were so, what of women who suffer infertility, or single women who choose not to adopt?  

Isn’t it interesting that if you were having some sort of identity crisis, and you sought the help and advice of a coach or therapist, they would, almost 100%, ask you what it was you loved to do as a child!  Within that child you were, was the seed of the man or woman you would become.  So I will ask you:   

What were those first glimmers of gifting and joy that were inside you as a child?  

What were those seeds of your youth? 

Those may very well be clues to your heritage.  Those may be yet more arrows you were given, even before your own children were born.  Those may yet be the arrows still in your quiver when your physical children are gone;  because thankfully, the creative nest never has to empty. 

I’ve said this so many times, in women’s conferences and various speaking engagements:  No matter your age, you are expectant. 

Dust off this arrow metaphor.  If you are a woman “in the middle”,  I challenge you to dust it off, and see it with fresh eyes!  Look around in that quiver of yours that you thought was empty when the youngest went off to college.  You’ll find yet more arrows - creative impetus that date back to your youth.  Weapons begging for a target audience. 

I’m excited to see what you’ve got.