Confession: My daughter, who will be 5 years old next month had her first sleepover last night and I cried when I drove away. Anytime I leave one of my children somewhere, I have this overwhelming "mother hen" feeling like I just want to gather up all of my chicks and take them home. And I know that this is only the beginning of letting go - someday, God-willing, I will actually drive this child to college, leave her in a dorm (or a den of wolves, as it seems), and drive away (or even fly away) from her for weeks on end. How in the world will I ever do that? It is an absolute overwhelming feeling of dread for me.
Truth: I want my children to be all that God intends for them to be, and they cannot be that in the security and protection of my home forever. At some point they have to become independent, and my job is to make that transition the best that it can be for them and to prepare them to make wise decisions for themselves. In order to make wise decisions on their own someday, I must start by allowing them the room today to make their own decisions, and make mistakes, while they still have the safety of us to fall back on. God, I pray that my overprotectiveness does not ever impede on your plan for my children, I pray that you give me the strength to trust in you with their future, because you are a much greater planmaker than I ever could be.
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