When Your Kids Aren’t Kids Anymore

As Christian parents, we know our children ultimately belong to the Lord and we are only given them for a little while.  Easy to say, right?  But doesn’t it create the most important balancing act of our lives?  That tension between doing too little and holding on too tightly?  When my three kiddos were young, they knew Mom and Dad would consider each situation regardless of what “all the other kids” were doing.  They thought I worried too much.  And maybe I did.  There is a lot to “worry” about as children grow into teens.

Now I am mom to three young adults in college and beyond.  God has taught me a lot as we have watched our babies struggle, succeed, and everything in between while living at home, moving to a college dorm, traveling and living abroad, and entering the work force.   Still, it seems that at the beginning of each college semester I just need a minute.  Today we dropped off our youngest for her next semester of college.  Letting go is hard.  It’s not that falling back into the empty nest routine is bad, it’s just that I miss having them home.  God has blessed us with children who have grown into people who are fun to be around and who make us smile.  They even humor my long goodbye hugs.

Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?  Let my people go, that they may serve me…’ Exodus 10:3 (ESV)

So what’s a mama to do but search her Bible app for passages on letting go?  As I read this verse from Exodus on the way home, my heart was touched like it was a message for me.  Wherever life takes them, I hope all of my kids serve Jesus with enthusiasm and confidence.  Because they are His people.  How can my children serve the Lord if I can’t let them go?  And that first sentence: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?  Wow.  Could it actually be my pride that makes letting go so difficult?  I don’t know, but either way the more I am able to look at their lives and mine from God’s perspective, the better I feel about it.  The more I read the Word and spend time with the Lord, the better I am able to experience that perspective.  And that’s why my Bible app was the perfect place to turn this afternoon.

Cindy is a blog contributor and board member at Study With Friends Ministries.  If you enjoyed this blog, you may be interested in other ones by Cindy. You can also listen to our Bible studies by tuning in to your favorite radio station, listening to our podcast on iTunes, or listening through TuneIn or Stitcher online radio. We are now on Spotify as well!