The first time I saw my baby girl after she was born, I couldn’t believe she was mine. I was thrilled. And I was terrified! The love was overwhelming, but the responsibility of caring for this little human was also overwhelming. Could I do it?
As she grew, learned, laughed, cried, and developed into her own person, my awe grew and I am thankful for the blessing she is in my life now.
But she is not my own. She doesn’t belong to me. She is a gift from God. I am just a steward of her for a short time. God has trusted me to be her mother. Me! I am so unworthy. I wasn’t trained for this. Many times I admit I have no idea what I’m doing.
However, God had a plan and He trusted me with her. In all my imperfect ways, He still knew she was best with me, in my family, with all our faults and mistakes. He knew we would love her the most and would take the best care of her.
Did I make mistakes? Oh, yes! I still do. I am not perfect.
But God is. He loves her more than I do. I need to trust him. Together we will do our best, because she is not my own. She has been loaned to me only for a short while. I have the joy and privilege to be called ‘mom' by her.
As we grow up together we are learning to get along, to listen to each other, to love deeply, to forgive easily, and to be forgiven. I love her fiercely. But most of all, I need to learn to hold her loosely. I need to be able to give this gift back to God. To trust Him to take care of her. He knows her and loves her even more than I do. He has her best interest in mind even more than I hope. He knows her heart and her deepest wishes and desires.
As our children grow into maturity, we have to let go knowing we did our best to train them for the world. There is an old saying, “if you love something set it free”, it’s like a bird pushing the baby out of the nest so it can fly on its own.
I have had the honour and joy to be her mom.
Thank you Lord for trusting me to take care of her, even for a little while, and forgive me for the mistakes I made while I was learning to be a parent.
We are all His. From heaven we come and to heaven we return; the journey in this world is short compared to the eternity of heaven. I am grateful for the opportunity to love and be loved as a mom, then to place her back in the hands of God.
Fly and be free, but please come back to visit once in a while.
Comments