Saying goodbye as a child heads off to college is still a long way away for all of the builders. For now we are all mothers to small children, who usually have small problems. Whiny behavior, time-outs, patience, and waking newborns highlight our list of parenting concerns. While we have recently had some posts regarding teenage pregnancy, and I am obviously very interested in ways I can reduce the chances of this happening to my children, the discussion is still a bit abstract and futuristic. Mothers of young children don't regularly deal with big kid problems like teenage pregnancy, drugs, dating, and loss of faith. It is with this in mind that I always appreciate the perspective of more mature and experienced mothers, like
Amy Welborn. Amy had a post today,
Taking Off, in which she eloquently reminds all of us that someday we will have to let go.
Every day, sons and daughters go out the door and down the road. Some go into real, obvious, very clear danger zones. But even those whose destinations seem safe and straight-ahead find roadbumps and worse because that is just life. So what do the mothers and fathers pray? Protect him. Yes. The same prayer we’ve uttered since we felt the first flutter within. But as we get older, and they do to, we understand what can be guarded against and what can’t, and we understand, so painfully and unwillingly, that difficulty and suffering will come to them, even as much as we wish that it doesn’t, that we would wish for it to be visited on ourselves instead.
Amen.
