What a Relief!

This is another post from my personal blog.  It comes from a conversation I had yesterday with my kids during school time.  What began as a pointed lesson in contentment and obedience--God gave you to me because he wanted me to make you be good, so you better just get used to it (all delivered with demure sweetness)--became a lesson for myself in faith and letting go.  

I don't have to worry about gaps in what I give them.  God already knew what I had to offer and as long as I team with him, it will be enough.  I can rest in faith that God is in control and the provider of all good things, and protector through all trials.  Then--now this is the hard part--I need to let it go.  My kids will take what they receive and live according to the Spirit's leading (Lord, I pray!).  I have no right to direct them or take it personally when a grown child doesn't choose my plans for him or her.  

Don't you love it when those lessons you toss out boomerang and whack you right between the eyes?

We had a great conversation in school today. The lesson was about Moses. We were learning that Moses' family and childhood prepared him for leading the slaves from Egypt. God acts with equal purpose today when placing His children into families.

The analogy we used was getting ready to go outside without knowing in any way what the weather would be. How do you prepare for that? Truly, it matters greatly if you are walking out to frozen tundra, scorching dessert, a racing tornado, or a mild spring day. Without appropriate dress, you could easily die!

But I don't know the weather any better than the children do that I am supposed to be dressing . That is where faith comes in. God knows I make jackets. He knows my neighbor makes light cotton blouses, and the family on the other side is all about the anorak.

He also knows all there is to know about our children: their strengths and weaknesses; the trials, temptations and triumphs to come. And He knows how to best prepare and equip His precious lambs for their specific futures. The first step was to place them in the perfect family.

I can't tell you the wonderful peace that came over me as we talked about this. It is just another reminder that I don't need to be everything or cover everything before I send my kids into the world. I just need to make my coats.

And if they find themselves in a warmer climate, they will rip those jackets up and sew them into a shade. Or if they find themselves next to an ocean, they might turn the sleeves into floating inner tubes. I may wander in and wonder what on earth they are doing with my beautiful jackets. I can imagine being totally flabbergasted! I must remember that it is only my job to make what I make and to give what I have. What they do with it is up to them. I will thank the Lord that they still find my jackets worth keeping around at all!