A Glad Mother and Father

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.

Let your father and mother be glad, and let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

-Proverbs 23:24-25

Almost twenty-six years ago, my first child, my only son, was placed in my arms and I fell in love.  I loved his big eyes.  A stranger at the grocery store once admired him in his little seat in the cart.  She told me that his eyes would become normal one day and I hoped that they wouldn’t.  I loved his grin.  It brightened my days and filled my heart.  I loved his talk.  He talked at an early age and I enjoyed our chats together.  He taught me a lot about motherhood and he grew.  He moved from the baby who cuddled while he nursed to the toddler who played at the playground.  He matured from the young boy who enjoyed math and numbers and held my hand when we walked along the way to the young adolescent who had thoughts and ideas of his own. 

Then, before I was quite ready, he was a young man with goals and dreams that would take him far from my loving care.  I held him with clenched fingers that God gently pried apart.  The days when he was a young child gathered close to my knees seemed much easier.  Now he would move more than 600 miles from home.  My days of daily influence were over.  For the most part, he was on his own and he would make his own choices.  I wondered in my troubled heart why God would give such a precious gift and then tear it from my arms.  Of course, God didn’t tear him from my arms.  As a friend reminded me, we do want our kids to move on and live the life God has planned for them.  It is the cycle of life that He has created.  And I reluctantly agreed.

Two years ago, on June 8, that mature young man moved further from my grasp.  He found and married an excellent wife.  His role and responsibilities have changed.  He is now a husband.  He is still my son and he will remain in my heart forever.  I will like him for always.  But he has a family of his own now.  My role and influence have changed.  Life is full of these changes.  They remind us to number our days and to make the moments count.

The years pass ever too quickly.  Goodbyes happen ever too frequently.  Goodbyes are hard.  Letting go causes pain.  But, I have found that it also brings joy:  joy as they persevere and succeed; joy as they walk by faith and live righteously:  joy as they make wise decisions.  These things make a mother and father glad; they allow us to rejoice.  So, let’s cherish the times that we have with our children.  Let’s help them build strong foundations.  Let’s teach them to fly.  Then, when they move on, we can smile and wave.  We will shed a few tears, but we will also watch them soar to new heights of their own.