So...what do you do?

The question is inevitable. I will be meeting someone for the first time, be it at church, Blake's dance class, or as it was today, at a birthday party of a kid in Blake's preschool class; and THE QUESTION presents itself.

I hate this question. Mainly because I don't have a simple answer....and that is what people want when they ask this question - a simple, concise, one (or two, max) word answer. They don't want an explanation of what you did before kids, or what you plan to do once they start school. They want you to say something simple like, doctor, or lawyer, so they can continue with the other nicities.

I don't have a simple answer for them. If I had an answer at all it would be the following, "Well, I'm an actor without a stage. I'm an educator, without students. I'm a writer...waiting to be published. Oh, yeah, and I'm a wife and a mom."

I could say I'm a homemaker...but this does not seem adequate to me. Perhaps it should, but it doesn't. I'm more than a "homemaker" I think to myself whenever I prepare myself to smile and give this simple, one-word answer. Why are there such negative connotations for this term? Why does my jaw seem to harden in place and my stomach drop whenever I prepare myself to say it? Is it because I write a ridiculous student loan check each month for a Master's degree I'm not technically using?

I think it's something deeper than all of this. Somewhere in our culture things have gone strangely awry. Along the way somewhere women have been made to feel like should be doing MORE. No matter how much they have on their plate already. No matter how many committees they chair, teams they coach, hours they clock in, loads of laundry they fold, or delicious-Paula-Deen-couldn't-cook-it-better dinners they cook it simply isn't enough. We feel the need, no more than a need, compulsion to do it all - and then some!

It's a sickness really - a contagious, out-of-control epidemic that is in serious need of a cure. I know you've continued reading because you are on the edge of your seats waiting for me to present you with my unbelievable solution. My astonishing revelation is this: I don't know. I don't know how to resolve something I struggle with daily. Feeling adequate with what I'm doing and where I am in life when I ALWAYS feel like I "should" be doing so much more is a constant nagging thought in the back of my mind.

But, I have learned one thing. I recently read a fabuous book by Daniel H. Pink called, "A Whole New Mind." (Fantastic! I highly reccomend it!) Anyways, one small section of the book was about how the US viewed happiness in comparision with other countries and it gave a small questionnaire to reveal whether or not you are doing what would be the most rewarding job for you to do. It told me this: I am where God wants me to be.

If I had a million dollars to do what ever I wanted or 20 days to live or whatever the question might be, I am doing what makes me more fulfilled and joyful than anything else I could possibly fathom. I am watching my children grow, I am attempting to impart on them wisdom that will help them mature into loving adults, concerned for others, their environment, and their world. I am there everyday to make them smile, listen to their infectious laughter, watch them make new discoveries, wipe their tears when fall down, and wipe their butts when they poop (ah, the joys of motherhood!) There is no place I would rather be.

God has placed me here. It is a humbling place to be - to always be serving someone else (especially for an actress, let me tell you!) But I am grateful for every second.

So for my virgin blog post, let me just say. "Hi. My name is Chelsea. I'm here."

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."
Colossians 3:23

So...what do you do?