When they move from the Carousel to the Tilt-A-Whirl

Some times it’s hard to let them grow up.

I recently picked up the book: Meditations for Mothers (Moments with God amidst a busy nest) by Elisa Morgan (president/CEO of MOPS) and in flipping through the pages I came upon a prayer that touched me deeply.


Dear God, help me understand that my goal as a mother is to raise a child to independence from me and dependence on You. Give me the courage to cooperate with the unfluffing process, even when I would rather stay cozy in the soft places of my nest.

~ Elisa Morgan ~


It reminded me of a struggle I had a few weeks earlier while preparing for the beginning of a new chapter in our family’s story; Hayden’s first day at Kindergarten. I was having difficult time with the idea of letting my baby boy, my first born son, my sweet sensitive child, go off into the world—the big, scary, and some times mean world without me! I turned to “The Birth of Moses” Exodus 2:1-10 and thought how much harder it must have been for his mother than for me, I kept thinking over and over; “when she could no longer keep him hidden, she sent him off - how painful it must have been for her.” I knew that she had no way of knowing the great plan God had for Moses, and he was such a tiny baby when she had to make the decision to let him go. I went to sleep that night knowing that it would be a rough morning, but that I was raising my son for God. I could not keep him from growing up; all I could do was help him grow into the kind of person he would one day be proud to have become, the kind of man God wants him to be. I wish I would have found Elisa’s Meditations for Mothers before school started this year, but I have a feeling there are going to be many more days—much sooner than I am even now ready to admit, that I will benefit from this prayer. As mothers we strive to hold our children close, keep them safe, ensure they know just how deeply they are loved, and how important they are. It becomes so very easy to forget that our job, our goal as parents, is to prepare our children, these little gifts, for the purpose that God has chosen. We watch them grown from helpless little infant, into a baby crawling around, then to a toddler taking first steps, a preschooler chasing friends around the yard and then elementary student heading off to school, the list goes on and on. The years go by so quickly and every time we turn around, we have to give up a little bit of our hold on them, handing over to them a little more independence from us. Nevertheless, because we are strong, because we have taught them; through our words and actions, to depend on the power of God, we know they are ready. Like Moses’ mother we too know that God will be there watching over our children. And luckily, we also know that (unlike Moses’ mother) we will be there for our children if they waiver, if they fall – we are not sending them off to a life without us, we are simply stepping back and letting them use the skills we have given then. We must put our fait in God and trust his plans for them, and for us. It’s not always easy, and quite honestly it some times hurts, but in the end our reward is great.