The Time Has Come!
The
day has come! That is, the day Kim and I had to take our youngest child and
only daughter to college finally arrived!
After almost two years of college visits, SATs, college applications,
acceptance letters, decisions, financial aid forms, and, last but not least,
shopping for college stuff, it all came to the time up to which everything has
been building. So this morning with a
van filled to the brim, we made the trek to Joanna’s new campus, unloaded the
van (with the help of some great student volunteers), set up the room (after
moving the furniture about ten times to make it all fit), did the new
student-parent stuff that the school had planned, said our farewells—with of
course, a few tears showing (and many more that we were hiding)—and left Joanna
at her new school and temporary home.
But,
not only has the day come for Joanna to begin her college career, tomorrow the
day comes for Kim and me to begin a new phase in our lives—to live as
“empty-nesters,” at least temporarily.
You see, tomorrow we do the whole off-to-college and move-in routine all
over again with our second son, Nathaniel, who is going back for his sophomore
year. (Jonathan, who graduated this past spring is currently living and working
in Nicaragua.) So, the day that Kim and I could never imagine actually coming
to pass—the day we find ourselves once again in a home without children—has
come!
I’m
reminded by it all that, not only does time move very quickly, but that our
children come into our lives as gifts from God. The truth is, we are merely
stewards over their young lives. In the
end, we do not own them; they belong to God, not to us. Our job is to simply take
care of them the best that we can and then, when the day comes, to release them
back into the hands of God, praying that what we’ve sown into their lives will
bear good fruit.
The
reality is, the time we have to invest into the lives of our children is a very
short span of time. And although none of us will ever be the perfect parent, we
must try our best to love them, teach them, nurture them, pray for them, and
lead them in the ways of the God’s kingdom.
Then, before you know it, the day comes when we must “let go and let
God,” trusting and praying that God their heavenly Father will continue to watch
over them and help, especially when we cannot.
“Love the LORD
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength. These commandments that I give
you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress
them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk
along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy
6:5-7 – NIV)
Have a great day! (Sorry for being a sappy and emotional
dad.)
Pastor Tim Harris
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