What We Do For Our Kids

Tomorrow we’re driving 8 hours to move our daughter into her new dorm. So far it’s been a 2-day ordeal – and we haven’t even left yet. What we do for our kids!

My friend was right where she wanted to be, spending her final vacation days helping her daughter prepare to move. This is my fifth trip to Target, and the washing machine hasn’t stopped running for days. She described how her daughter’s things sprawl into 3 rooms of the house, and she’s staying up way past her bed time because she knows she only has 2 more nights to hug her girl goodnight.

I laughed out loud.  At that very moment, Terrell and I were on our own 10-hour adventure sporting a loaded cargo van to deliver to our son the items he couldn’t transport in his car when he moved to Mississippi. Seizing the opportunity to see him and glimpse his new life, we actually volunteered.

Funny thing is, we know several other parents who recently loaded and drove U-Hauls a full-day’s journey for the same reason.

The things we do for our kids.

At the other end of the spectrum, a mom gives in to her young child’s yearning to go to camp. The other moms relax as they drive away, but she leaves hoping and praying that her child’s special health needs won’t isolate her child.

The things we do for our kids.

We stand with them—when they’re sick, lonely, nervous, stressed out, treated unfairly, attempting something new…

We stand by them—when they’re wrong, disobedient, disrespectful—and we forgive.

The things we do for our kids.

We do— from a love first given to us by God. And so, we love them deeply.

We struggle to speak how deeply, so we live it.  We live our love. . . And we love till we’re exhausted. . . But by God’s grace, never exhausting the love.

What a privilege to be so loved and to then share that love.

Heavenly Father,