Honestly, my practical mind steps in and shoves the thoughts back to a deep place within seconds. That is 12 years away. We have a whole lot of other things before us between now and then. I am thankful for the protectiveness that my mind displays over my tender Mama heart.
And yet, as I sat in church this morning with my boys flanking me and K in her Daddy's lap, I kept thinking about the Mama sitting next to me that sent her oldest son to college this week. It made me value the moment. I enjoyed scratching those little boy heads while they would still let me.
I was able to be in my current season while giving pause to the one that looms. It occurred to me that there is some value in the tension of the present and the future-- if we allow it to give us perspective rather than terrify us or shut us down.
It is, after all, what we Mamas are aiming for, right? Preparing our children for adulthood...making sure they are ready for the launch. Intentional, responsible parenting involves knowing there is a goal in mind. We don't have to know what they will be or how God will use them...ours is simply to love them up and point them to Him.
It seems that the launching will mean a lot more if I think of it even now as a goal to give them away to the world for His glory--rather than fearing it as a moment when something will be taken from me.
5 comments:
We moved one to college just yesterday. He called me today and sounds good. We are covering him in prayer. It is a hard adjustment, but he was ready. And we are excited for him to have the opportunity, but we sure do miss our middle guy! This mama is glad he is only thirty miles down the road. :-)
Oh, this hit hard today. My oldest is a sophomore in HS and I'm not yet ready. However, I'm sure that God is busy preparing him to be ready even as He is preparing me to give my son to His glory. I needed this particular statement today, "ours is simply to love them up and point them to Him." Thank you, Jen, for sharing your heart.
Oh, that makes me teary and I am a long way from this too. It goes so fast!
This hits every mama hard, but I think about you and your 3- you have no "lead time" with one going through a stage and the others following- you have the privledge to doing all stages x 3!
I recently wrote a blog about preparing our children to launch- @ http://dianetohline.com/preparing-to-let-go/
This is SOOO good! I needed this. My oldest started Kindergarten (all day, every day) last week and I've been a wreck! I've needed a shift in perspective and this is it...thank you! LOVE your blog!
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