The Blessing of Watching Them Become...

Blessings come in all shapes and sizes. We spent this weekend with our sons, Trey and Trent in their apartment at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. Spending time with our boys always involves great conversations and lots of love and laughter. This weekend was no exception.

Trey recently landed a new job in Mobile with the German-based company, Thyssenkrupp. Trey's chosen language for his International Business degree is German. He's actually become quite functional in the language and spent last summer in Germany for an internship. We're not certain if his ability to use the language helped in him getting this job, but we're certain that God has plans for him in the future that will involve his ability to speak another language and we're grateful. Trey will be working in the finance area with this company. As best as my non-business mind can explain, he will be involved with financial projections concerning the products the company produces. It sounds really exciting and challenging to him. That's what's important, right?

On Saturday, Janet and I drove Trey to Mobile to begin the process of looking for housing. As Janet so aptly put it, this seemed scarier than leaving him at Auburn. This time he will be on his own, though in our hearts we know that he will never be alone. God has always been his guide and his protector. After all, this is the kid that spent a summer in the mountains of Nepal--having to hike one day up from the Capital City of Kathmandu to an airstrip where he would fly further up the mountain on a small, single engine plane, then hike another day, fording streams and rivers, encountering leaches, etc., before reaching the remote villages where he would live and work--only after his freshman year in college. What's Mobile, Alabama in comparison?

Still, I could only look on quietly at times as I watched and listened to my adult son ask intelligent questions and questions of the residential managers that mattered to him concerning the potential apartments he would rent. All that ran through me was, "Where has the time gone?" Only yesterday this was our sweet little boy holding our hand as he crossed the street. He kept us in stitches with the funny things that would come out of his mouth--things that we repeat to this day, such as his word for muffins. You might always call them muffins, but they'll always be "muffnose" to us. Or, the president at the time was Bill Clinton. To Trey, he was "President Clintident." At the end of the day, Trey had evaluated prices and locations and had determined on his own where he would spend his first days in Mobile. He has chosen the downtown area. If I were him, I would, too. The place has so much character, so much history, and resembles the French Quarter of New Orleans in so many ways. It was fun to watch Trey come to these conclusions on his own with us only acting as consultants, helping him think through some things. He needed us there with him as his parents, but in a different kind of parental role.

When do your children suddenly grow up and when do you finally realize it? I think this became a reality for me on Saturday. How proud I am of both of our sons. Yes, they might still need our help in making some decisions in life and yes, we sometimes wonder why they choose what they do, yet, when we stop and consider who they are, what they have become, and who is Lord over them, we can only stand in awe. We play a large role, but God plays a role that is continuing. Our sons belong to Him and they truly are His. Never was this so real as when we were standing, singing together on Sunday (Easter Sunday) at Trent's church in Auburn. Both of our boys' voices were raised as they expressed their worship and praise to the One who has become more than just the God of their parents, but their very lives. This, God worked on His own. He used us, yes, but the reality of Himself in their lives is the result of His marvelous work. I will never regret raising our boys in the knowledge of Christ. We are their parents, but just as naturally as it is and should be, He has taken the reigns of their lives and it is apparent that He is leading them in the way of His will. Sad? No, not at all. Nostalgic? Of course. Proud? Immensely--not because of what I have done, but because God gave us two beautiful sons that are His treasure given to us for a short time.

I think if Hannah taking young Daniel to the Temple once she knew he was ready. After all, she had committed his life to God and she knew that although he was God's precious gift to her, her son, in the end, belonged to God. As I stood and watched Trey interact with each person at each apartment division, I, too, realized, "Lord, he's yours. Thank you for sharing his life with us. You have blessed us immensely through the lives of our sons."