Maggie Rowe - Not Slowing Down
Written by Susan Zurcher
There aren’t many kids who can claim their grandma has done a TEDx talk, but Maggie Wallem Rowe’s six grands can! Maggie, now 70 years old, is quite accomplished and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Originally from Illinois, she and her pastor husband Mike served three congregations in New England and the Midwest before making their home in Western North Carolina in 2018.
Along with being a mom and grandma, Maggie has been a college professor, a public relations professional, and a women’s ministry director. She has spoken at hundreds of women’s retreats and conferences on topics such as parenting, friendship, anxiety, finding your calling, marriage, and vocation. Maggie also writes and and performs historical reenactments of the lives of noted women of faith.
Maggie has contributed to multiple books including study Bibles and has authored two solo books – Life is Sweet Y’all and This Life We Share. This past winter she just completed her second polar plunge for a fundraiser for a local children’s educational program. In her blog, View From the Ridge, Maggie shares poignant thoughts and wise insights into everyday life and regularly interacts with the many readers who comment.
How does she do everything?
She doesn’t.
“You can’t do it all,” she insists. “Not at the same time.”
Maggie didn’t set out to pursue multiple vocations. More than once she felt less than qualified for leadership roles she was asked to assume. She credits her relationship with God for helping her make those decisions and directing her path. “When it came to one position for which I felt completely unqualified, I searched the Scriptures for a reason not to take it, and instead I found a record of people who responded to God’s promises by saying yes. God has always supplied what I lack.”
Family has always come first for Maggie. “I have a very supportive husband and family”, she says. Her travel and speaking schedule is especially full during the holidays. Years ago, the women of her church would band together to bring meals to her young family in her absence. Maggie realizes not all women have that. That is why she also advocates for women to support one another in whatever stage of life they find themselves.
Now in her “third trimester” of life, as Maggie puts it, she often speaks against ageism. She feels our greatest obstacle as we age is discrimination against ourselves. “In the West,” she says, “older women often feel invisible and unheard. It’s tempting to feel as if we’ve been confined to the margins rather than being in the middle of the stories everyone is talking about.”
Maggie favors a quote by psychologist Mary Pipher: “Ultimately ageism is prejudice against one’s own future self.”
Rather than being self-limiting, Maggie prefers to focus on what she has to give now, in this stage of life. She points out that anytime we lose something, it makes space for something new in our lives.
She says in her TEDx talk, “… [we discriminate against ourselves] by comparing our weaknesses to others’ strengths or identifying ourselves by what we’ve done in the past and not what we’re capable of in the future. Maybe we’ve let previous failures define us, but our past performance doesn’t get to prophesy our future potential.”
In conclusion, she encourages women to take four steps:
1) Jot down ten to fifteen words you’d use to describe yourself. Eliminate the ones that arise out of your perceived weaknesses.
2) Do a personal inventory of your skills and experiences, including volunteer work. What’s no longer a part of your life that once took up most of your time?
3) What have you dreamed of doing if you had the courage, the time, and the finances?
4) Even if you lack 90% of what you feel a new achievement requires, take that 10% that you do have while actively seeking the resources you need. The 90% will come.
Like many of us, Maggie is still tempted to try and take on more new challenges than she has time for. But these days she’s allowing for more margin in her life by leaving some white space in her planner yet scheduling important things she enjoys including exercise and hiking.
If you are wondering what might be next in your own life, consider how Maggie’s four steps might apply to your situation. Watch and listen for the need that has your name written on it.
For more information on Maggie and for a little encouragement, visit her website: www.maggierowe.com