Letting Go

 This week was a first for us. For the first time Kat went away for 3 nights and 4 days to her High School soccer team camp. She's spent the night at friends houses, went on vacation with a few friends families, but never gone overnight with a group of girls (27 to be exact) that she didn't know all of them, they were different ages, different personalities, different lifestyles.

Because we've been youth pastors for so many years, whenever there were overnight stays, we were there. So this really was a first. Yet, I wasn't worried. My girl is 15 1/2 and I trust her. I trust that she has mine and her daddy's hearts in mind when she is away from us and that she won't do anything that will break our hearts or the connection she has with us. I could have given her a list of "do's" and "dont's" but really, I don't think that would have accomplished much. I gave her a few really simple thoughts and that was it. You see, there comes a point when no matter what we've instilled in our kids, they will choose, when they are away from us to honor those things or do what they want to do. That can be a scary thing because as parents we really don't want our kids to make wrong choices. Personally I don't want to be a control freak, I want to empower my girls to make smart choices and be powerful in life.

Kat had a great time, she sent us texts regularly, was excited when we showed up to watch one of their games (driving 1 1/2 hours to get there) and she shared her frustration with how some of the girls talked (potty mouth) and that some of the older girls who should have been great role models really weren't. That did my heart good. She also said that she couldn't wait to eat REAL food, that she was tired of FAKE food. Awww, how sweet is that!

She's getting older and more independent. She starts drivers ed in 2 weeks, gets her permit next week. My little girl is growing up REALLY FAST! She may not always do what we think she should, but we know she loves us and can talk to us and more than loving us, she loves Jesus and knows who she is!




With Joy UNquenchable,