Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
On June 6, 2008 Victoria Votaw and Alyssa Bounds will walk across the stage of the M.O Campbell Education Building, shake a few hands and accept the symbolic key to their future. The high school diploma—the apex prize of every graduating senior. To hold it in your hand is to grasp freedom!
While Victoria and Alyssa are basking in the glow that is adulthood, their parents might be experiencing a completely different set of emotions—empty nest syndrome. This is a topic very near and dear to my heart. You see in June of 2009, my own son, Patrick O’Hare, will be a graduating senior.
A whole year away, and already I find myself filled with anxiety and depression over letting go of my fledgling firstborn. I’ve even gone so far as to think up ways to keep him close to home. On our way to a college prep meeting this week, I suggested that my son consider going to the local junior college his first year. I even devised a plan for him to take night courses at U of H. He could have the whole house to himself during the day. It would be like he didn’t even live with us. He didn’t buy any of my ideas. It seems he has his heart set on attending that university to our west that people make jokes about, but also produces top notch engineers.
The feelings I’m experiencing as a parent preparing to let go of a child are anything but new. Parents have stressed over letting go since the dawn of time. Only this time it’s my child and I’m the one who has to let go. The question is how will I face this major life adjustment? The answer lies in my ability to stop fretting and turn it over to the One who’s really in control anyway. We are able to handle any challenge life throws our way, as long as we know that God is with us. In the meantime, I’ll put these Houston Baptist University brochures in Patrick’s room. Surely they have an engineering program…don’t they?
On June 6, 2008 Victoria Votaw and Alyssa Bounds will walk across the stage of the M.O Campbell Education Building, shake a few hands and accept the symbolic key to their future. The high school diploma—the apex prize of every graduating senior. To hold it in your hand is to grasp freedom!
While Victoria and Alyssa are basking in the glow that is adulthood, their parents might be experiencing a completely different set of emotions—empty nest syndrome. This is a topic very near and dear to my heart. You see in June of 2009, my own son, Patrick O’Hare, will be a graduating senior.
A whole year away, and already I find myself filled with anxiety and depression over letting go of my fledgling firstborn. I’ve even gone so far as to think up ways to keep him close to home. On our way to a college prep meeting this week, I suggested that my son consider going to the local junior college his first year. I even devised a plan for him to take night courses at U of H. He could have the whole house to himself during the day. It would be like he didn’t even live with us. He didn’t buy any of my ideas. It seems he has his heart set on attending that university to our west that people make jokes about, but also produces top notch engineers.
The feelings I’m experiencing as a parent preparing to let go of a child are anything but new. Parents have stressed over letting go since the dawn of time. Only this time it’s my child and I’m the one who has to let go. The question is how will I face this major life adjustment? The answer lies in my ability to stop fretting and turn it over to the One who’s really in control anyway. We are able to handle any challenge life throws our way, as long as we know that God is with us. In the meantime, I’ll put these Houston Baptist University brochures in Patrick’s room. Surely they have an engineering program…don’t they?
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