We raise our children with care, love, protection and prayers for a prosperous future.  We bandaged skinned knees, wiped runny noses, and kissed away hurts and tears.  We looked in on them at night as they slept peacefully while quietly considering what they may become when they grew older. We hoped to always be a part of their lives.  We disciplined them to teach them right from wrong. We held them tightly to remind them they were loved.  We taught them to brush their teeth, comb their hair, and give them tickles to know we care.  We labored over homework wishing we had the answers and stayed up late working through astronomy, biology and English projects.  The walls in their rooms were filled with pictures that displayed a little of who they were.  Early on, it was the treasured hand paintings, but as their personalities and interest changed over the years so did the pictures.

When our oldest son left home, he left behind that “one picture” that has been his from the earliest of days. It was the one picture that said to me as his mom, “I’m still your little boy.” What a treasure!

Picture of boy

I sit here in tears as I think of how he has grown into a man, and I am beaming with pride! It’s been a few months since he graduated from college, married (she is an answer to my prayers) and moved some 1,600 miles away for training in his new job, but he wasn’t “quite” yet gone. The room was still set up and his things (many of them) were still in place. I gladly looked past the stack of wedding gifts piled up in my dining room and the boxes in the garage.  I rarely noticed the car parked out front or the bedroom full of his and his bride’s belongings.  During these last few months I have walked into the unoccupied bedroom and stared at the pictures on the walls that spoke of life: past, present and future.  I soaked it all in.  I would bask in the memories of the little boy who is now a grown man.

It is now time. Time for the pictures to come down. I labor to hold back the tears as I realize this season is here. It is a season to let go. It is a season to bless the next chapter that these two precious people will spread their wings as husband and wife.  What is a mom to do with empty spaces that were once filled with a sweet presence? She must choose to look inward to revisit them deep in her heart.

In these moments I must remember that God entrusted him to me, and I did the best that I could. From my many mistakes, he learned to forgive and love anyway.  Because of the many times I have prayed over him, he now knows who the Source of life is.  He knows the Lord and his heart is bent toward Him. For my son and his bride I know the Lord has plans to prosper them and not harm them so I extend my arms and open my hands to let them fly. Now they soar into the future full of hope and promises with a God that will never leave them or forsake them and is always for them.

Now I know this season may feel like an eternity but it is a short one. A new season is knocking at the door. One of new beginnings full of hope, new adventure, new memories, and new depth with the Lord. I praise God for His goodness!

Is God doing something new in your life, but you need to first release something to embrace it? It is hard but what God has that is new is good. Trust Him!