Spring time is a sign of newness in the air and newly minted high school graduates, open houses, food, fellowship and wishing them blessings as they take on life!

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26

I love Spring for all of it's newness. The dead of winter is gone with the trees and flowers in full bloom and the grass we thought would never come back from its dormancy now brims to life calling us out doors! Spring is a time when we get to see how much our neighborhood children have grown through the year!  As our children grow they take on more responsibility and with that responsibility the decision making for their lives. Spring is a transition time of saying goodbye to their younger selves and opening doors to their new selves!

Spring is also a time of high school open houses, food, fellowship and wishing that newly minted graduate a grand farewell as they make their way into the world and develop what their heavenly father intended them to be. Open houses can be a mix bag of emotions as we grieve the years when we had greater parental control. For some of us relinquishing control can be difficult. Like a childhood game of tug-a-war we struggle to hang on to the rope (control)  as our kids pull from the other side. 

The cable news channels do not give us any hope that it is Ok to relinquish such control. The threats of violence combined with sudden losses makes us want to hang onto our kids way past the point when we ought to release them. Instead of saying goodbye we want to gather them up and hide them in a shelter from life's storms. 

 When we hang onto our kids past the point we should have released them we run the risk of harming their psychological development. 

Which is why I am comforted by the words of the bible for it is in that ancient text that God speaks volumes to us. Like the verse from Matthew 6 when he reminds us to look at the birds of the air for their heavenly father feeds them and yet you are much more valuable as they?'  

That verse is a reminder that our God, the one who sent his son to the cross to die for us, loves our children as much as we do. It is a reminder that as  we say 'goodbye' to our children we take a more strategic role and praying for them.

One of the things I learned from my grief journey is how resilient our children are when storms come. They are stronger than we often give them credit for. I believe that God had a major stake in our children's lives and when storms come he often wraps a protective sheathing around them until they are ready to handle whatever it is that effected their parents. 

Finally, as you go about your list of open houses enjoying the food and wishing these newly minted graduates farewell remember that their heavenly father loves them and wants nothing but the best for their lives. Mom's and dad's, your job is done and now you get to sit back and watch your child become what God intended them to be!