All Grown Up

I couldn't resist posting the top picture. We gave Joshua a spoon and he knew exactly what to do with it. I love the expression on his face. The next picture is of our oldest son, Matt and our youngest, Joshua. There are 18 years between the two of them. The next picture is of our second oldest son, Zack and Jeremiah on Zack's 16th birthday last week. He let Jer blow out a candle. In searching for pictures of my girls, I realized they have been dodging the camera. I told them to watch out that I would be hunting them down.

Our oldest son, Matt, got his welcome packet for college this past week. He leaves August 29 for a small liberal arts college up north. It suddenly hit me that he would be gone. I mean as in 11 hours away gone. He is our first to fly the nest. Next year, Zack will be graduating our homeschool. The year after that will be Melissa's turn and the year after that will be Sherita's. The one thing that keeps going through my head is have we prepared them for the world. After all these years of homeschooling, it is time to let go. I never thought I would be one of those clingy mothers who would have a difficult time seeing their children grow up and leave home, but I understand now. Raising children is an intense labor of love if you do it the way God intends. I pray for the grace and wisdom to help my children make the transition into adulthood and to encourage them to stay on the narrow path that leads to true happiness.