Letting Go
I've decided the motto for being a parent is "Letting Go." It seems as though that's what we do. Beginning from the moment the umbilical cord is cut, we commence the journey of letting go.
My eldest is 23 (and a half, actually) and I've just today experienced an epiphany in this idea of letting go of those who are such a part of us. As I pondered the notion, I was taken back to occasions where God let me practice ... I remember the first time I actually let my parents babysit. He was about 2 weeks old, and my mother insisted that my husband and I leave the baby with she and my dad, and that the two of us "new parents" go enjoy a meal. Reluctantly, we left. I've never ordered so little food and eaten it so fast in all my life. No time for small talk. Just eat, pay the check and drive home as fast as possible. And the "School of Parental Letting Go" was officially in session.
Subsequent children, subsequent situations, subsequent opportunities ... there have been more times than I can recount where letting go became little by little, more intense. There were first days of school ... first time sleepovers at a friend's house ... first time camps ... first time vacations without the kids ... first time soloing in the car ... first time dates ... first time mission trips overseas ... first time leaving home ...
As I remember different children and different opportunities to let go, I realize that what I feel as I remember these things is a kind of ripping deep down inside. We've all watched our children struggle, try, fail, get back up, try again, hurt, succeed, rejoice, weep ... and each time we have to step back a little bit further and let them figure it out on their own.
Certainly we parents reach a time where we have to stand back and watch our children make profoundly poor choices, knowing all along that the scars left behind will be life-long for them. However, we don't interfere ... we just watch, and PRAY while continuing to let go.
The book of Samuel contains a story of a Mom having to let go. 1 Samuel 1:28: "So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." Read the story of Samuel the priest sometime. It is the story of a mother's ultimate letting go.
I have seriously digressed ... I was going to share my epiphany. As I've pondered my own version and seasons of letting go with my children, I came to a comforting realization. I've always had the idea that letting go of my children was something like releasing helium filled balloons into the sky. I let go of the string and watch them float away, resisting the urge to jump up and catch it again, only to watch until the balloon was no longer visible. Still out there, somewhere ... just beyond where I can see. Hoping that it would find safe passage to whatever destination it sought. But I think God is teaching me something entirely different about letting go of my children. 1 Peter 5:7: "Cast your cares upon God because He cares for you." In all honesty, children are a giant "care." If you don't think so, you're not very far along in the parenting journey. Truly they are a blessing, but I've honestly spent more time on my knees interceding for my kids than I have spent singing praises to God for giving them to me. So they truly are something I spend a lot of time and energy "caring" for. So God says to cast my cares upon Him. Casting ... interesting word. Actually means to throw with all your might. Not like a rod and reel where you cast into the water, reel it in and cast again. But a permanent throwing as hard as you can, as far as you can. Once you've "cast", if you've done it correctly, it doesn't return to your hand.
As scary as the whole concept may seem, it is really the very best thing we can do as parents. When I put any one of my children in my hand and prepare to cast, my eyes are fixed on the Catcher. You see, unlike releasing balloons into the great unknown, we are actually throwing our children into the loving arms of a God who can and will care for them more perfectly than you or I ever could.
I don't know where you are in your journey as a parent. But I can tell you, the greatest gift you can give your kids is to let them go ... not into the world, or their own selfishness, or even your idea of who they are. But let them go and let God have His way in their life and heart. Get out of the way and let God do His best work in them. Only when I choose to step aside does God truly have free reign in the lives, minds, hearts and souls of my beloved children. Abandon them? No. Love them completely? Absolutely! But love them enough to let God have the time and freedom to truly make a difference in them. Love them enough, to let them go.
Be blessed!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Praying for Rain
June has been a hot, dry month here in Texas. The last time I listened to the weather, our local meteorologist said we were 6 inches behind in rainfall. And many days saw the temperatures top the century mark. Hot. Dry. Desolate. Barren. Parched. I can close my eyes and imagine the sun burning hot on my face. The stillness of the dry air pulling moisture from my body. If only it would rain. If only the heavens would open and the refreshing smell of rain would permeate the air. If only I could stand with my face toward the sky and feel the cool, life-giving drops falling on my skin. If only ...
I guess as a writer, I see the situations around me as metaphors for life. It is no surprise to me that during a dry, arid season in the lives of my prodigals, there would be no rain for me either. The feelings inside when I think of them are so similar to the picture I've painted in my mind of the dry desolation of the parched land longing for a drink of cool water.
Isaiah 44:3 "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants."
As I have prayed many, many scriptures for my children, this one comes to my heart so often. As we see the desolation and sun-leathered faces of our children as they wander in the desert, we so often long for them to find the oasis ... that place where fresh water and green, lush vegetation punctuate the death of the desert around it. We long for the refreshing, restoring rains to fall upon them. That the water will clean and refresh. That it will bring new life to their thirsting heart and soul. That the healing waters of the Spirit of God would wash away the deception that they've held as truth and wash their eyes and minds to see and experience the healing and wisdom of the God Who yearns to be their Living Water.
I don't know where you are today, or what your struggles may be as you stand in the gap for your prodigal. But I encourage you to remain faithful in prayer. If you ever wonder just how patient He is with those who wander in the desert, read the story of Hosea. Always hope. Always trust. Always believe. The Lord of the rain will one day truly bring refreshing, cleansing, healing water to the desert. Pray that He will pour out His Spirit on your offspring. Pray for the Rain to fall ...
Be blessed!
June has been a hot, dry month here in Texas. The last time I listened to the weather, our local meteorologist said we were 6 inches behind in rainfall. And many days saw the temperatures top the century mark. Hot. Dry. Desolate. Barren. Parched. I can close my eyes and imagine the sun burning hot on my face. The stillness of the dry air pulling moisture from my body. If only it would rain. If only the heavens would open and the refreshing smell of rain would permeate the air. If only I could stand with my face toward the sky and feel the cool, life-giving drops falling on my skin. If only ...
I guess as a writer, I see the situations around me as metaphors for life. It is no surprise to me that during a dry, arid season in the lives of my prodigals, there would be no rain for me either. The feelings inside when I think of them are so similar to the picture I've painted in my mind of the dry desolation of the parched land longing for a drink of cool water.
Isaiah 44:3 "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants."
As I have prayed many, many scriptures for my children, this one comes to my heart so often. As we see the desolation and sun-leathered faces of our children as they wander in the desert, we so often long for them to find the oasis ... that place where fresh water and green, lush vegetation punctuate the death of the desert around it. We long for the refreshing, restoring rains to fall upon them. That the water will clean and refresh. That it will bring new life to their thirsting heart and soul. That the healing waters of the Spirit of God would wash away the deception that they've held as truth and wash their eyes and minds to see and experience the healing and wisdom of the God Who yearns to be their Living Water.
I don't know where you are today, or what your struggles may be as you stand in the gap for your prodigal. But I encourage you to remain faithful in prayer. If you ever wonder just how patient He is with those who wander in the desert, read the story of Hosea. Always hope. Always trust. Always believe. The Lord of the rain will one day truly bring refreshing, cleansing, healing water to the desert. Pray that He will pour out His Spirit on your offspring. Pray for the Rain to fall ...
Be blessed!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The War is ON!
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.
We need to merely shift our gaze from the temporal to the heavenly to realize that the battle for our children is not an earthly war. Oh, things of the earth are certainly used by the enemy as weapons. He may use ideologies that our children have learned or been exposed to that cause them to question and doubt even the very existence of God. He may employ philosophies that tickle their ears into believing that there are many ways to God. God's word identifies the enemy as the father of lies ... the great deceiver ... incapable of honesty or integrity, whose only goal is to destroy people ... especially Christ-followers.
Although the enemy may not have the souls of our children, he certainly desires to rob them of the abundant life that God has planned for them. If we look at examples in scripture of the enemy at work, we can fairly easily identify his modus operandi. He often begins his deceptions not with actions, but with words. "Surely God did not say you would die," he tells the woman in the garden. "Turn those stones to bread," he suggests to a famished Lord. He tends to hit us when and where we are weak, and pour deceptive poison into our minds until it has infected our thoughts and consequently, our actions.
How is the enemy deceiving your prodigal today? Has he said, "You're just not good enough." Or maybe, "Really? That won't hurt you. Not just once!" Perhaps he has caused them to question the existence and sovereignty of God. Maybe he has your prodigal wondering if what you've taught him all these years about Christ could possibly be the truth.
Where there is chaos and confusion you can be sure the enemy is at the root. Where there is peace and hope, you find the Truth, the Person of Christ.
As you pray today, remember this passage in Corinthians. Pray these words on behalf of your prodigal. Remember that God is far more powerful than anything the enemy has at his disposal. When Paul tells us about the amour of God in the book of Ephesians he instructs that the Shield of Faith we carry "extinguishes ALL the flaming arrows of the evil one." (emphasis mine). And the God of the universe is alive in you through the Holy Spirit, if you have accepted Christ as your Savior. Pray boldly, knowing that the weapons God has formed are divinely powerful to demolish strongholds ... another translation says those weapons "(are) divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God ..." What is it that has taken hold of your prodigal's life or mind? What deception have they embraced as truth? You have a mighty weapon in your hand and heart through the Holy Spirit. Pray boldly. Release the power of the weapon to demolish the stronghold the enemy has.
Allow the power of Christ to infiltrate the enemy camp. Pray for Him to destroy everything the enemy has established in the mind and heart of your prodigal. And remember. You are in the winning army! Christ has already defeated the enemy and rendered him powerless to stand against you! "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!"
Pray in faith, believing. As you release your prodigal to God, He is faithful. He will cover and protect them. He will redeem them. He is the God of restoration. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39.
Be blessed!
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.
We need to merely shift our gaze from the temporal to the heavenly to realize that the battle for our children is not an earthly war. Oh, things of the earth are certainly used by the enemy as weapons. He may use ideologies that our children have learned or been exposed to that cause them to question and doubt even the very existence of God. He may employ philosophies that tickle their ears into believing that there are many ways to God. God's word identifies the enemy as the father of lies ... the great deceiver ... incapable of honesty or integrity, whose only goal is to destroy people ... especially Christ-followers.
Although the enemy may not have the souls of our children, he certainly desires to rob them of the abundant life that God has planned for them. If we look at examples in scripture of the enemy at work, we can fairly easily identify his modus operandi. He often begins his deceptions not with actions, but with words. "Surely God did not say you would die," he tells the woman in the garden. "Turn those stones to bread," he suggests to a famished Lord. He tends to hit us when and where we are weak, and pour deceptive poison into our minds until it has infected our thoughts and consequently, our actions.
How is the enemy deceiving your prodigal today? Has he said, "You're just not good enough." Or maybe, "Really? That won't hurt you. Not just once!" Perhaps he has caused them to question the existence and sovereignty of God. Maybe he has your prodigal wondering if what you've taught him all these years about Christ could possibly be the truth.
Where there is chaos and confusion you can be sure the enemy is at the root. Where there is peace and hope, you find the Truth, the Person of Christ.
As you pray today, remember this passage in Corinthians. Pray these words on behalf of your prodigal. Remember that God is far more powerful than anything the enemy has at his disposal. When Paul tells us about the amour of God in the book of Ephesians he instructs that the Shield of Faith we carry "extinguishes ALL the flaming arrows of the evil one." (emphasis mine). And the God of the universe is alive in you through the Holy Spirit, if you have accepted Christ as your Savior. Pray boldly, knowing that the weapons God has formed are divinely powerful to demolish strongholds ... another translation says those weapons "(are) divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God ..." What is it that has taken hold of your prodigal's life or mind? What deception have they embraced as truth? You have a mighty weapon in your hand and heart through the Holy Spirit. Pray boldly. Release the power of the weapon to demolish the stronghold the enemy has.
Allow the power of Christ to infiltrate the enemy camp. Pray for Him to destroy everything the enemy has established in the mind and heart of your prodigal. And remember. You are in the winning army! Christ has already defeated the enemy and rendered him powerless to stand against you! "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!"
Pray in faith, believing. As you release your prodigal to God, He is faithful. He will cover and protect them. He will redeem them. He is the God of restoration. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39.
Be blessed!
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