While talking with my husband this weekend, I realized we no longer had careers. We have jobs to get us to where we want to go. And the shocker is…I’m okay with that! When did this shift happen?

I may have mentioned this before; I was having a hard time with the thought that my career is coming to an end. It is dying a slow and natural death. It is supposed to end at some point. My career has been long and healthy. It’s been a good career and served me well. It looks like its thirty-year life span will end in the Spring of 2021. Four more years? How does someone like me end a career?

Do I take it squealin’ and screamin’ to the finish line with a hearty SAYONARA! Or do I end it quietly with dignity and grace? I’m not even sure I can do the grace thing. I kinda of like the “going out with a bang” idea. But my career is old and tired. It is in a field slowly becoming obsolete. I’m ready for the next wave of smart-aleck renegades to take over and give it their best shot.

Sounds like a funeral right? In a way it is. I feel grief and a sense of loss when I look towards the past. BUT, here’s the exciting part, when I mentally turn 180 degrees to look at the future…WOW…there is something there. Faith, Hope, and Love are waiting for me along with my dreams. Change is in the air.

I also found my journey has hit a plateau. Now baby boomers think of a plateau as a bad thing. It’s part of our slang. The word describes an obstacle to our goals. When you say “I hit a plateau.” it means you had to do something to kick-start your life. Get a new job, or exercise more. Stuff like that.

This is where my thoughts went: This plateau is a good thing. It is a point in time to rest. I had to change my thinking. I am a future-tense kinda of gal. I get a job done. Have my moment of satisfaction as I cross it off the list. Then I move forward to the next project. I have been climbing and stretching and growing a lot lately. I’ve crossed a lot of stuff off the list! I have not given myself the chance to rest.

If I’m hiking in the mountains and I find a plateau I can; eat lunch or take in the view, or breathe easier while I hike across it before I hit the next rise. Either way it’s a place to let rest soothe my weary body and soul.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 describes a season for everything and a time for every purpose. It’s okay to have a time of rest and rejuvenation; a time to strengthen my body and soul. It is okay to slow down and drink in the awe and wonder around me. It is okay to stop being Martha (and I love Martha!). It’s okay to be Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet grateful to just be in His Presence. This is my plateau. I choose to be Mary for a while. [see Luke 10: 38-41] I’ll get back to being Martha soon enough.

This does not mean I stop working towards my dreams. I could really get used to sitting on the plateau. I could get fatter and lazier than I am now. Just hang out and enjoy the view metaphorically. The consequence is I will not finish my journey. My race will not be completed. I want to be like the Saint Paul:   ^“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (II Timothy 4:7 NIV).

That means soon I will be picking up, and climbing to the adventure ahead. I will rest now as I listen for the guidance from my Lord.

So where does that leave my career? Well…I’ll continue to give it my best. It is now my job to get me to where I want to go on this journey. I will let it die a natural death at 30 years in 2021. Then I will be moving on to a bright future as a feisty ol’ lady! As a friend of mine keeps reminding me, “It’s okay to mark time…” That’s the point of a plateau.

Check out the view,

Milly