It is officially the last weekend of the summer before the new school year begins. Looking back we can honestly say we experienced an amazing summer. With trips to NYC , Taos, NM and lots of shopping , movies and small talk. My husband Robert and youngest daughter Shannon reaped an bountiful garden. The 3 girls grew closer to God and as sisters and my oldest Megan, became my friend.
The feelings at this time of year are bittersweet and have become a 14 year tradition. Every year when I put them on the bus or drop them off on the first day I’m flooded with memories of the year before and filled with anxiety about what the school year will hold and have I prepared them.
But it’s time. For Them. To Go. To Let Go.
Whether they are a sophomore in college, a high school junior or a fifth grader the reluctance of letting go is no different then it was on that first day of kindergarten. First you ease it little by little, then suddenly it just slips out of your hands and you’ve let go. This year through my college bound daughter ,I was reminded of the benefit of letting go. I imagined transplanting a flower or bush to a new location so it can grow healthier and stronger. For this to successfully occur, you have to dig up the plant and sever its roots. There’s an initial shock to the system, but planted in its new surroundings, it extends new roots and eventually establishes itself more firmly than before. And the hole that’s left behind can be filled in with fertile soil ready to nurture new opportunities that becomes a life that blooms independently on its own but never alone. “I planted, watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-7
Let God
The anxiety of letting go is not easy but God is our comforter. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us. We never know what God is going to do, or what He is going to use in our children’s lives. We also don’t know everything He is doing at the moment, or how He will use current situations for their good in the year to come. I need to trust His “redemptive grace”. He is able to pour out His grace and redeem situations beyond all we could ever ask or think. And when I fear that I have not prepared them well enough I am comforted with the knowledge that they have a heavenly father that has “perfectly prepared” them for the road ahead. At some point, we have to release our children to God and to His sovereignty. I don’t know how issues will turn out or if they will ever resolve themselves. I can't live my children’s lives for them.
God has only given me one life to live and to give an account for, and that is mine.
I give thanks to Lord for “perfectly preparing” us and entrusting me to nurture three beautiful amazing daughters and giving me the strength (when necessary) to let go.
The feelings at this time of year are bittersweet and have become a 14 year tradition. Every year when I put them on the bus or drop them off on the first day I’m flooded with memories of the year before and filled with anxiety about what the school year will hold and have I prepared them.
But it’s time. For Them. To Go. To Let Go.
Whether they are a sophomore in college, a high school junior or a fifth grader the reluctance of letting go is no different then it was on that first day of kindergarten. First you ease it little by little, then suddenly it just slips out of your hands and you’ve let go. This year through my college bound daughter ,I was reminded of the benefit of letting go. I imagined transplanting a flower or bush to a new location so it can grow healthier and stronger. For this to successfully occur, you have to dig up the plant and sever its roots. There’s an initial shock to the system, but planted in its new surroundings, it extends new roots and eventually establishes itself more firmly than before. And the hole that’s left behind can be filled in with fertile soil ready to nurture new opportunities that becomes a life that blooms independently on its own but never alone. “I planted, watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-7
Let God
The anxiety of letting go is not easy but God is our comforter. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us. We never know what God is going to do, or what He is going to use in our children’s lives. We also don’t know everything He is doing at the moment, or how He will use current situations for their good in the year to come. I need to trust His “redemptive grace”. He is able to pour out His grace and redeem situations beyond all we could ever ask or think. And when I fear that I have not prepared them well enough I am comforted with the knowledge that they have a heavenly father that has “perfectly prepared” them for the road ahead. At some point, we have to release our children to God and to His sovereignty. I don’t know how issues will turn out or if they will ever resolve themselves. I can't live my children’s lives for them.
God has only given me one life to live and to give an account for, and that is mine.
I give thanks to Lord for “perfectly preparing” us and entrusting me to nurture three beautiful amazing daughters and giving me the strength (when necessary) to let go.
