Direct your children onto the right path,
and when they are older, they will not leave it.
and when they are older, they will not leave it.
-Proverbs 22:6
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| Our 'kids' this time last year... |
I am feeling super emotional today.
This figures. During a month when I’m encouraging thanksgiving... today… I’m not feeling it.
I am really missing our kids. It’s been a couple months
since we’ve seen Caleb. He is working two jobs & going to school full time
in Fargo so needless to say, he’s been a little busy. It’s been nearly six
months since we’ve seen Josh & Kristen. To say, ‘I kinda miss them’, would
not be authentic. I’m missing them so much these days that my heart hurts… so
much this morning that I’m feeling like I might cry at any moment. I know with
the holidays approaching that this is only going to get harder. In our tight
knit, farming community, families don’t often disburse as ours has. Typically,
children don’t go very far away to school & when they do graduate, they
come back home to live, work & raise their families. It’s not unusual to
see full family units sitting in the pews here on a Sunday morning.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am so thankful that our boys have
flown the nest. They are growing & thriving & living life well. As a
mom, I am so proud of them & their life choices.
To their credit & ours, we do manage to connect over the
phone pretty regularly… it’s a delicate balance for all of us…. Us giving them the
freedom to keep flying on their own & them keeping us from wondering how
the flight is going. I love hearing about Caleb’s construction job adventures,
how his classes are going, & how his sweet girlfriend Courtney made him
soup & babied him when he was sick last week… & I love hearing about
Joshua’s youth pastor job, how Kristen is enjoying her internship, seeing video
of them playing on the beach with our grand-dogs & pictures of their Florida
life. This is, after all, what we raised them to do & I wouldn’t change
that for a minute.
Intellectually, I understand that we are all exactly where
God has called us to be & most days, I’m OK with it. It’s just that
sometimes, I’m not. Today is one of those days.
So at risk of camping out here on my own, I want instead to
encourage you to love on your families today… soak up each moment you have to
sit around the dinner table together… take careful thought of the gift it is to
be able to see their faces in person, the luxury it is to be able to physically
reach over & hug them, & the blessing it is to experience life together
first hand.
You will not regret this… I promise.
What a precious, precious gift!
“Son, make this world a better place with that beautiful mind of yours.
And when you have a family of your own, love them beyond measure even
when it means letting them be free to do what God intends them to do.”
-Jo Ann V. Glim, Begotten with Love: Every Family Has Its Story
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