I am blessed to be the dad of two budding men aged 13 and 10. It dawned on me the other day how fast the time is going. It was depressing to think that in 5 years Zed could leave for university or that my wife and I could have an empty nest in less than a decade. Whoa. A lot can change in that amount of time, but it saddened me just the same.
Years ago at a men's retreat, the LORD gave me a vision of our Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was wrecked beyond imagination, a twisted mess of metal. I just knew my family was in there when the crash happened. It literally made me cry, thinking about their deaths and what an empty loneliness it would leave inside me. In that profoundly sad moment, I rejoiced that God did not take my family from me. He wasn't showing me a picture of the future (we have sold the Jeep!). But I heard His still small voice tell me that I needed to give them back to Him. I needed to give them away. That day I gave my family and those I love into the hands of God, knowing that He is able to protect and provide for them both in this life and for eternity.
It is a good principle that whatever God gives us, we freely give it all back to Him. We give our own lives to His sovereign control and rule. Everything we own and everything we do is only by His grace. Our God is one who gives and takes away. It is far better to give back to God before it is taken from us. Because I have given my children into God's hands, I will cope better when the day comes that they leave. It will not be them leaving, but God who is guiding them into a new arena and chapter of their lives. God knows so much better than me and I entrust our lives to Him.
The application? We are only on this earth for a short time, and parenting kids is a shrinking season I am richly blessed to enjoy. When my kids move on my life will not be over because my life is bound up in Christ - not my children. I will miss them. I will miss their smiles, laughs, games, ridiculous moments, teaching opportunities, and enjoying time together. This spurns me on as a parent to spend quality time with my kids and seek to forge a relationship beyond the bounds of do's and don'ts, not limited by mere activities or common interests. May we grant our children such grace that after they are gone we will not be missed because we were their source of food, money, or gifts, but because of our love. Praise God for providing all we need through Christ!
Yes I think I would have also sold the Jeep! But so true give them into God's hand, as Chuck once did with Cheryl.
ReplyDelete