Human and Spiritual Formation Prepare You For Your Biggest Life Events

If you are like many moms,  pulled in multiple directions, you do have a degree of flexibility.  With that flexibility comes the responsibility to choose activities that develop our mind, soul, and abilities.  By doing so, you will be more prepared for those major life events that come your way…like what I experienced recently.

I knew it was coming, yet I didn’t picture it this way. I wasn’t surprised. God told us, we wouldn’t know the day or the hour.

My 19 years of having a business partner, a professional colleague and a lifetime of fatherly grooming and TLC ended recently. God removed—even temporarily— the warm blanket that covered me all those years.

With an autoimmune disorder diagnosis last year my normally vibrant dad’s health declined. The undesirable symptoms ushered in his frustration; my dad’s body would not cooperate with the dreams his mind and soul wanted to manifest. The illness challenged his spirit, but it wasn’t what killed him.

A life-threatening perforation in my dad’s GI track lived up to its billing. The police, EMS, and I broke into his place to find him disoriented and in pain curled on the floor. Ambulances, emergency surgery, scopes, critical care units, heart-broken loved ones bathed the next 14 days. Two weeks later we said our final good-byes as they buried his cremated remains.

God presented me with numerous tests to see what kind of woman I had become.

The last two weeks of my father’s life on this earth validated my deep heart-felt conviction. The mompreneur journey isn’t just about business, time, and money. It’s about God’s spiritual, mental,  emotional, and physical transformation of the mom business owner.

Here were my signposts on how my mom biz has transformed me:

1)     Inspired action-orientation

At each juncture- at my dad’s condo, navigating medical advice and care, dealing with family, organizing the funeral — all required decisive actions.  My mom biz psyche kicked as with prayer I analyzed options to make prudent, immediate decisions founded in obedience to God’s will. I instinctively knew delays and procrastination in my choices just added time and another undone task in an already packed schedule. Just like in my business, confident inspired action helped the process move forward to better everyone.

2)     Laser-focus

In planning the funeral and dealing with the estate, it seemed that every meeting I attended resulted three to five new things being added to my to do list. Instead of getting overwhelmed, I naturally focused my attention on the next task at hand, whether it was visiting my dad, getting something to eat, talking to the funeral director, being present for visiting family, helping my kids in their last days with their “Papa Don”, catching up with paperwork or essential to-dos on my laptop, or praying.  From the years of my stop-and-go mompreneur lifestyle, it felt natural to switch from activity to activity and be fully present with whatever I was doing, whether it be with people or things.

3)     People-first

Being there for those they love motivates most mompreneurs to take on the extra stress of business ownership. I found I was able to juggle my work and home obligations, just like I wanted to because I practice it on a daily basis. I was in spiritual fit condition to handle the emotions and relationship needs of the dying process. In the past, I would have been emotionally overloaded, resorting to overeating or other unhealthy behaviors to get through the stress.

4)     Delegation

The mompreneur in me did not hesitate to ask for help or respond to, “Please, let me know if there is anything I can do to help…”   Accustomed to working with assistants, it was easy for me to see what I needed to delegate and what I needed to handle myself. I accepted meals, help with the kids, assistance cleaning up my dad’s home, making the whole process much smoother. I responded with clear instructions of what I needed—help arrange my dad’s pictures at the Church, run to the store to get the guest book I forgot, take my kids out to play so we could clean up the condo —which made it easier for people to help me.

5)     Spiritual Clarity

Once again, my Catholic faith buffered the pressure of the outside world. The  Church’s teachings were when it came from transitioning from medically working to save my dad, to managing his pain as he prepared to meet Christ. We stopped procedures and, ultimately, extabated (Mina, check this spelling) the respirator following an orderly process that allowed my dad to die with dignity and those he loved to spend his last hours and moments in peaceful intimacy with him. The Church was my guide for the dying process, as it has been my guide for living out my vocation as wife, mother, and mompreneur.

So, the same talents successful mompreneurs and skilled homemakers, like you, work to develop that lead to your well run home and profitable business also foster wisdom, courage, and love when dealing with your most significant life events.

The Catholic Mompreneur’s Guide Biz and Life Tip:  Fully invest in what makes your home and work run smoothly; those skills will come to your aid when you most need them.

Christina M. Weber MS  Copyright 2014