Today marks a first for my husband and I. The door to empty-nesting cracked open.
And it's amazing how God has allowed this opportunity. To be parents, is a blessing in and of itself. To actually watch your children grow, experience life and move on into their lives the way God designed them, is mind-blowing.
This morning it happened. Our sons both left for work. Work...you mean real jobs? Yeah, real, wage earning jobs, and one of them actually drove! When did that happen? Wasn't I just in the labor room, didn't I just spend an all-nighter with one of them as they struggled through teething? How and when did those boys of mine get big enough to drive and work?
Overnight. I swear I laid my head on the pillow last night and before I closed my eyes they were playing Thomas the Tank engine with their dad on the living room floor. Then boom! I wake up this morning and they have deep man voices, facial hair, cars and jobs. Wait...what?
Oh Lord, I am overwhelmed. And so deeply thankful. Time stands still for no one, least of all me. I stare hard at those sweet semi-adult sons of mine and am blown away with the millions of blessings God has bestowed us in allowing us the opportunity to spend life with these two.
As quietness settles in our home after they shut the door behind them I am awestruck with memories of my husband and I saying...”Just wait babe, one day these boys will be grown and we'll have time to ourselves again.”
This is that moment.
The house is quiet as I type this. My husband is busy in the yard and my babies...yes, they'll always be my babies, are at work together. (Big Brother hooked up his Baby Brother with a job at the local garden center – sweet boy!) And I realize, it has come. The door to empty-nesting is being opened.
Our lives are beginning to transition into a new stage. I'm not sure how I feel about it frankly. I'm happy, proud, a bit sad, thankful and feeling blessed. And yet still tentative. What is life supposed to look like now?
I don't know. I guess we'll take it one day, one step at a time and thank the good Lord every step of the way. For as His word reminds us, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” ~ James 1:17
And all I can say, in the quiet of my home and soul is, Thank you Lord.
