Christ In The Home: God’s Plan For His Family

A New Purpose

1. 
   Nurturers, where their identities are now tied to the vocation of their husband, the careers of their older children, and the care and nurturing of their grandchildren;
   
2. 
   Discoverers, who rework the structure of their lives by pursuing a career or vocation on a full-time basis;
   
3. 
   Achievers, who really don't need to change as much because they have worked diligently at a career for most of their lives while also raising a family;
   
4. 
   Displaced homemakers, who have been forced into the job market due to a divorce or the illness or death of a husband. Smoke finds that "nurturers" seem to comprise the smallest portion of women in their 50s, while the largest group seems to be the "discoverers."
   

For those in this latter category, Cynthia Coad has written a handbook to help women with this transition called, Your Full Future: After the Empty Nest.

She writes in that book, "The first one-half of the female's life has been occupied in serving others. It was a path she chose, and one she accomplished well, In many cases this meant that her own personal career goals were not fully developed. A time comes, however, when the woman looks for her full future in the form of a career. The second one-half of her life offers her that opportunity." And so, whether one is male or female, the time of the empty nest can be a time when we look to a new life purpose.

A New Marriage Partnership

In any case, marriage after the empty nest will probably not be what it was before, and the couple who wants the change to be an improvement would be well-advised to plan for it deliberately.

When we are young we have a tendency to be preoccupied with the material aspects of life. But as we mature we see more and more that the physical is not all there is to life. While we still feel there is much of life ahead, we realize that we are aging, and we start to think more of where life is headed, and what is beyond it. All of this leads us to consider our spiritual nature more and more. That means we need to work more on our connections-principally our connection with our Creator and God, but also our connections with the rest of life in God's Creation. Empty nesters often have experienced enough of life to see that such pursuits do not ultimately satisfy, and they are looking for more.