"That is how life goes---we send our children into the wilderness.
Some of them on the day they are born, it seems,
for all the help we can give them.
for all the help we can give them.
Some of them seem to be a kind of wilderness unto themselves.
But there must are angels there, too, and springs of water.
Even that wilderness, the very habitation of jackals, is the Lord’s.”
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, p 119
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| Surely the Lord is in this place and yet I knew it not. Genesis 28:16 |
Heavenly Father,
These children grow, and they are restless to spread their wings. You know my heart, Lord, and how I would rather they didn't, how I would like to keep them "safe" and little. Yet they must live in this world, in this wilderness. My selfish attempts to keep them in the sunshine do not work and do not help them.
"It's ok, mommy's here," I soothe them in the night, though that is a comfort that will not help them there.
But You have promised to be with them always. Fasten their hearts (and mine) to Your strong Word, that we may not fear.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
oh emily, i've been there, it is hard, and i hate to tell you it doesn't get any easier, in fact when they mine left my nest, it was one of the hardest times in my life, i did not survive empty nest syndrome to well! ask any one of my kids:) now thinking back to sundays in the front row at trinity...remembering when mine were all little like yours, a man in our congregation came up to me in church one sunday, and said "i love watching you gather your children together like a hen gathers her chicks"
ReplyDeletepraying you find the peace i did... eventually:)
(verna)...nana to enola, deandra, eliza...white creeks little lambs:)
Thank you for this Verna.
ReplyDeleteI know I am not quite at empty-nest point, but I see all these little letting-go moments as practice for those days. And even the little ones are hard :/
Thank you for the prayers! He is faithful to me today, so i just have to trust that He will be faithful to me then! :)