Bread for the Journey

 

Letting Go!

It was back a few years when I walked into my favorite shop.

My eyes spotted and stayed glued to this matted sketch.

It had my name written on it.

I went to the cashier...

 Tears started rolling down my face.
This motto represented my heart.
I had taught this to my children, the best way I could.

 I watched my older daughters make some choices.

One was off to the inner city of Camden, NJ, using her educational skills,
to serve and support the needy children of Camden.

The other was off to Haiti, using her medical experience, 

helping families recover from the earthquake torn country.

 It tugged at my heart as I saw them moving ahead with hearts for service.

It was one of those days when I was muttering to myself about letting go,

my daughter turned to me and said.

"Mom, you always told us that you wanted to give us roots and wings."

Little did I know what that meant.
I too have wrestled with these questions concerning letting go.

Yes, I thought to myself,  roots go deep and help our children to grow strong, while

wings lift children upward and inspire them to soar freely, strongly and close to God.
I have to admit...'the wings part is my challenge.'

While children are loaned to us from God only temporarily,

it is our responsibility to love, nurture, train and finally release them

so they can seek God's will for their lives.
Letting go does not mean abandoning them, but it means to give them back to God.
It means to release those controls that are stirred up from needless fears.
 
"Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over the young,
that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions."  Deut. 3:11

Just as an eagle stirs up the nest, to encourage the eaglet to test it's wings,
 when it's capable, it finally flies away, strong and free.
This word picture from the Bible gives me the assurance and inspiration
that God too, will be their to help our children reach their potential.
 

Many of us have had to let go...cutting ties, pushing off and stirring up the eagles nest.

It truly is a process as we learn to give our children independence.

We want them to serve God - not us.
We want them to depend on God - not us.

 We also want them to know that God will always be with them.

~ we won't.

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