I need to put together a post of Christmas pictures around our house, but my mind is still elsewhere. I was surprised at how hard it was to get my sweet, blonde-haired, 6-year-old, first grader up for school and send her on her way today. (Thanks to strep throat making its rounds, she was the only one who went to school.) I don’t think she caught on, but I’m pretty sure I hugged her and made her look in my eyes twenty more times than usual.
I won’t get into a philosophical post about why I think this all happened. There’s been enough of those on Facebook over the weekend to make my head spin. . . But, I think every momma’s first instinct is to keep your babies close, shielding them from the world. But, if you keep them from going to school, then you can’t take them to the mall, to the grocery store, to the movies, or even to church. . . . There’s no safe haven.
This whole terrible thing has only reminded me of what I already knew (but often forget). Our lives (and our children’s lives) are completely out of our control. Sometimes, when I’m running around, exhausted, trying to do this and do that, and worried about 101 things that may or may not happen, I’m certain God is looking down smiling and shaking His head that I still haven’t learned that lesson. For someone as “type A” as myself, realizing I have no control is a hard one, especially when it comes to my kids.
All we can do is love our babies and pray hard over each and every one of them. And, I believe we can teach them kindness and to show grace to others. If they see our critical and judgmental ways when we're talking about or interacting with other adults, what example do they have to show love to the kids they come in contact with everyday? I’m not sure we even realize what they’re absorbing sometimes, but I do believe they soak up everything.
There are things we will never understand because His ways are not our ways. I want you to know that I prayed for all of you this morning who were also having a hard time sending your babies off to school. I know this post is completely off-topic today, but I needed to write it for myself, anyway. Thanks for listening.
