So this morning I went for a walk. It’s time to take care of this old body, right? I’m a little surprised how much I’m enjoying it, but there’s the breeze, the ducks by the pond, the green grass and the sunshine! As I’m walking, I ponder and I pray for the people I love, especially for my children. I’ve seen the effects of my parents’ prayers on my life, so I know that I should definitely pray. I wish I could say that I have complete faith that my children will always be safe, that nothing bad will ever happen to them, that they’ll always make the right choices, but I’ll admit it… I worry about them. I believe that I always will, at least a little. Case in point… during my last trip home I went out one evening with some of my childhood girlfriends. We met at a restaurant and were having such a good time catching up that we ended up staying out later than we expected. I was so surprised when my 91-year-old dad called me around 10:00 …to make sure I was okay! I hate that I worried him, but that just proves that it doesn’t matter how old we get, as parents, we’re always thinking about our children! So, back to this morning… I was getting toward the end of my walk and it was starting to get hot. I noticed myself seeking out the shady spots on the street. One house on my way home had two big trees that covered the yard and sidewalk in front of it. Ah! Coolness! I was happy for the short break from the heat. Then I noticed something else… the grass under those big trees looked sad, brown, dying. I guess the trees keep the yard from getting enough sunlight for the grass to grow. So how does that relate to parenting? Maybe just this…as much as I love my children, I can see that my worries, my love for them, even my prayers, can’t shade them forever from life. To grow into the people they are meant to be requires that at some point I have to step aside. As much as I’d like to shield them from all the hard things they’ll surely face in life, that’s not what I should do. Trusting that God is more than capable of watching over them, even in spite of my worries and failures, is the best and toughest thing I can do for them. I won’t stop praying for them, but I have to let them grow and learn and fail on their own, just like my dear parents did for me.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 13:22:54 +0000
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