Process of Letting Go

As a Mother a Large part of my job is a process of letting go. I have to constantly remind myself that I am raising a Man and a Women who one day God willing will be someones Husband and Wife, A future Father and Mother. They are not mine to keep they are mine to teach. It is my job as their Mother to give them all the skills they will need to be the best Christians, spouses, parents and friends they can be. To know that when times get hard (and they will) and they fall short they are still loved not just by me but by God. To help them learn from the earliest age what being grown Godly Men and Women looks like now and help them grow in those things over time.

For sure it is a tall order. It's a lot to think of your tiny baby you have carried within your own body for 9 months as some day leaving you to start their own family and lead the lives God has etched out for them, not the one you may envision. That's why our loving heavenly father allows us to let go in baby steps. From birth to nursing were you still have that sweet closeness. Then those first steps were they are off exploring independently from you but still needing you so much. You begin to leave them for hours and then maybe even overnight. Then they are off to school. They learn to drive, begin to date and one day God willing marry. As well as a million other little steps along the way. Little opportunities for both you and them to learn the art of letting go.

I constantly try to remind myself to parent with the end in mind. To parent in a way that I will be able to whole heartily rejoce in my children's steps they make to become independent of me and dependent on Christ. To prepare them as best I can for each step along the way. To rejoice when they get there that they are ready and prepared. To rejoice when one day they have their own families and I go from being their world to ranking behind their relationship with God, their spouse and their own children. That on that day I won't lament at this but I will reach that place in life with resounding joy. That I have raised them to know what is most important in life. Also to know that God will graciously fill in the gaps when I fall short and that I will have taught them rely on him.