The school year has started. Two weeks ago, I sent Caylie and Garrett off for their first day of school as a fourth grader and a first grader. And I stood in wonder as I watched them walk into their classrooms. Where in the world has the time gone? Wasn't it just yesterday that I found out I was expecting them? I walked back to our apartment, (which is right across the parking lot from their new school), and sat looking at Chloe Beth for a few minutes, wondering what I would do when she started school.
I'll never forget Caylie's first day of Kindergarten. I walked her down the infinitely long hall. Garrett, two at the time, was with us. We walked into the classroom, found her desk, and greeted the teacher. I made sure she was settled, and then started out the door. Feeling the tears starting, and knowing full-well that I didn't want her to see me cry, I hurried to the door. I scooped Garrett up, and started the long walk back to the car. And the tears started. But, folks, they weren't just tears. I was doing the kind of crying that makes your face all deformed. And I could barely see where I was going. Ok, I was almost sobbing. How would she open her Capri Sun? Would she know where the bathroom was? To put it in terms my Southerners will understand, I was a mess. As we continued our walk, sweet Garrett patted me on the back, and in his little two-year old voice said, "It okay, Momma. Sissy be right back."
The day continued. And continued. And continued. I really think it was one of the longest days in the history of the world. But, when I went back to pick her up, she was smiling and happy. She had a great day, and couldn't wait to go back!
Fast forward three years, and it was Garrett's turn. I really thought I would be better off with him. You know, I was, shall we say, experienced. But, I cried the whole way home. I cried most of the morning. But, at the end of the day, just like Caylie, he loved it.
There are so many emotions that parenting brings with it, and the struggle to let go as our kids grow up is certainly one of them. Even though our oldest is only 9, I can already feel it starting. But there is an important lesson that I believe we need to grasp hold of while our kids are young, to make is easier on them, and ourselves, as they get older. And that lesson is this: Our most important job, as parents, is to help our children become disciples of Christ. Period.
Right about now, a lot of you are saying, "Well, duh, Amy. We already know that." And to that, I say, "Great!" But, sometimes I need to be reminded about what that entails. Or maybe it's better to say what that does not entail. That does not always entail them becoming a musician or a football player or whatever dream you have for them just because you want them to. That does not always entail your children living within a 2-mile radius of you forever. That does not always entail them becoming a doctor or a lawyer. That does not entail them always getting straight A's. (I can almost hear some of you gasping!) That does not always even entail them going to college. (And now some of you may even just stop reading....)
But friends, if we're honest, we know this. Being a disciple of Christ means we're completely and positively sold out for Christ. We're following Him with EVERY aspect of our lives. And that means we're letting Him lead us. So, if we're training our children to be disiples of Christ, then we must look at their lives differently than the world does. The world tells our kids over and over again of the things that they "need". We know that there is only One thing that they need.
So, as Christian parents, how should we pray? First, I am going to pray that my children will all come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as not only their Savior, but as their Lord. I want them to run after Him with everything they've got. And I want them to live for Him alone. I don't want them to be "people pleasers", but to focus on the one Person that matters. Second, I am going to start praying for God to remove my desires for my children and replace them with His desires. Thirdly, I am going to pray that God will use them. What an honor for us as parents to know that God could use our tiny little vessels that we have worked on and poured our lives into for years and years! And God can use them in any career that He chooses from teaching to factory work to missionary work to yard work. He can even take it further and use them in the local church, on mission trips, and in local evangelism and outreach.
Parenting is hard. Seeing your kids grow up is even harder. It seems like the time goes by so fast. But, as I keep reminding myself, that's what is supposed to happen. Our kids are given to us as babies. And our job is to help them grow. And teach them God's ways. And then they grow up. Yes, we're always their parents. But, the older they get, the more our roles change. (At least, in some areas, I hope. I don't want to have to be reminding Garrett to wash his hands when he's 35!) Growing pains hurt. But good comes from them.
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
