Monday, March 14, 2016

A Bit of Growing Up

One entered this world a week early, the other a week late.  One came home in denim, the other in an eyelet dress.  One works with numbers, the other with letters.  One runs to relax, while the other paints.  Both my oldest daughters are as different as I could have imagined.  I have had the privilege to teach them both, knowing that each learns in her own way.  If you were to look at them, they look like sisters, each with a different style.  Their heart is what truly ties the two together.  They both love God intently, and they love others intentionally.
I watch them from a distance now.  My full-time job as a mom becomes more of a part-time assistant and guidance counselor.
I am okay with that.  From the first months of the girls’  life, Bryan and I have been intentional in parenting them to bring them to a point of being independent, Godly adults.  Yes, they are still dependent on us for much, mainly financial support.  However, day to day decisions, academic choices, and relational problem solving fall in their laps.  We love them from a distance.
We dropped Laura off four years ago knowing that she most likely would not return to live with us.  Not that she did not love us, but we knew that God had some bigger things planned for her.  As Alyson began this past year, our thoughts were similar.  We had been challenging each one to fall in love with God more and more to let him direct their life.  We watched.  We smiled.  We loved watching them grow up.
This past week, Alyson, spent her spring break in Kentucky at the Creation Museum.  She spent the week house sitting for a friend and driving over an hour each way to work.  She trained, worked hard, and enjoyed this next step in a career she sees God taking her. We said she “adulted” well.  I missed her horribly, but it made sense to watch this week play out.
We have many years before all our kids reach adulthood.  Admittedly we have much work to do.  Twenty-two years have been action packed and quick.  The next fourteen will fly even faster.  I am thankful for a faithful, prayer answering God who has a plan for each one of us.  As I brought my little ones home as newborns, I had absolutely no idea what lay ahead.  It has been a blessing to walk this journey.



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