Good day dear friends. This past Sunday we celebrated Laity Sunday and three lovely ladies shared the word of God with our church family. Our thanks to Sue Carson, Linda Palermo, and Kate McWhirt, who preached at the three worship services of First UMC. Therefore, there was no study guide for this week, and I've been sharing just some thoughts about my 30th anniversary in ministry and today just a thought about parenting.
Nellie and I had the pleasure of spending some time with our youngest, Caitlin, as she was oriented at Texas Woman's University in Denton. She was able to tour the campus again, meet some new friends, spend the night in the dorm, and register for classes. The parents got to attend parent seminars and workshops. One of them was on letting go. I needed that one. I was happy and strong the whole way up there. Once we hit the parking lot of the dorm on the first morning, it was Dad that shed some tears at the reality of our youngest, who was for your information, just born yesterday, no?, is attending college! But we heard a term we hadn't heard before and it was the title of this morning's devotional. The professor leading this, said our generation of parenting is being called the "helicopter generation" because we "hover" too much over our kids. And he proceeded to tell us what NOT to say to our kids, which ran counter to what I've always told my girls. Okay.
Do we hover over our children too much? I can't answer that for you, but you can for yourself. We want the best for our children and we want them to be successful and triumphant in all things, especially life. We want them to be good and to do something that benefits humanity and serves the Lord. Is that asking too much? By the same token, are we allowing them the freedom to risk and venture out on their own? Our cultural backgrounds may be different in many respects, but on the above we're pretty much united. Our views on our children may be a bit different as well. Nellie and I raised our girls to know they could do and go anywhere they wanted in terms of their education. We weren't surprised, but were very pleased that Nellie, our oldest, went to dad's alma mater of Southwestern University. And it was great knowing that later on that very same time, we moved to San Antonio which put us closer to her. I don't know how pleased Nellie was, but oh well. Nellie and I were shocked that our second oldest, Sarai, chose Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY for her college! RPI in NY? Wow, that was a trip. Dad cried from Georgetown to San Antonio and from Troy to about Maryland. Carli chose Texas Lutheran University and the tears were only from Seguin to San Antonio. Now Denton.
We trust in the Lord and to the Lord we entrust them. We know that there is no One better in Whom to trust, than the caring arms of God. We can hover all we want, but we must trust the Lord to guide and bless them as they go about discovering life for themselves. We pray that our blades would stop spinning and we can come in for a landing.
Yes, it is all right to cry.
PRAYER: Loving God, we trust You with our children and their futures. Bless us, the parents with the strength and comfort we need. We pray and trust in You. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day!
e.v.
