3. You are not alone.
Mothers everywhere and throughout history have dealt with letting their children go. In the Bible we read about Hannah who had to let her promised boy, Samuel, go as soon as he was weaned because she had promised him to God. Sarah had to let Abraham take Isaac to Mount Moriah with the intention of killing him, and Mary quite literally watched her precious son, Jesus, suffer the worst death imaginable while she was powerless to stop it. All of these women have one thing in common—with each other and with us. Their “letting go” meant offering their children up to God, for His purposes and promises. God had not forgotten them or turned His back on them. He was fulfilling that which He promised, but these mothers had to let go so that His perfect will could be accomplished. It’s exactly the same for our children. God has a destiny for each of them. When we hang onto them with the intentions of protecting them from the struggles they are enduring, we are inhibiting the growth that comes only through pain. We are standing in the way of the beautiful testimonies being born, world-changing work that will come, and fulfillment that only God can bring to our children’s lives.
4. Remember that you are highly favored.
As I watched my boys fall and fail and hurt, God reminded me time and time again that mothers are highly favored. You may wonder at the logic of that, especially when your heart is breaking as it looks like you’re losing them. But God reminded me that He entrusted these children with us. He didn’t do that accidentally. My boys are my boys on purpose. God chose me to birth them, to nurture them, to love them, and to keep them safe. He did the same for you. Not only does He trust us with caring for them, but He trusts that when the time comes, we will be strong enough to deny our created natures and give them back to Him. God has made us His trusted stewards, but He gave us an almost super-human strength of will that He only gives to mothers—a will that enables us to actually let go of the things we were created to hang onto with all of our might. We are highly favored, and we are supremely loved. God’s heart is for mothers. He is knit to us through this sacrifice, and we honor Him each and every time we allow Him to be God in the lives of our children.
In the middle of the heartbreaking, daunting task of letting our children go, we must look up and remember that we are truly favored and loved by the Creator of the universe. It is, indeed, a high calling, but it is a beautiful one.
Because we are mothers.
