God Be With You

Allow me, if you will, to wax somewhat parental. I came across today’s poem recently, which I wrote in church the first Sunday after we dropped our youngest off at college for her freshman year. Now, in her third year, she’s off to study for a semester abroad in Europe and I find that these same sentiments still hold true. All the more so as our oldest is now married and has settled out of state … which is fine. As parents, we do the best we can for the time allotted and then we have to nudge them out of the nest so they can soar on their own. That is a difficult time for many parents. Yet, after all, our job isn’t to raise kids to be kids, but to be adults. So by definition they ought to leave that nest, get out of Dodge, and learn to live on their own. That’s the goal. We’ve been blessed with great kids who have earned our trust and their own freedom, thereby making the whole process much less painless because we don’t have quite so much to worry about. Our personal philosophy has always been that our children were just on loan from God anyway, making the parenting process more an issue of stewardship. So, now that they’re grown we turn them over to God and trust that He will watch over them when we are unable to. This approach gives us a great deal of peace about the situation. Maybe you’re not in our particular stage of life. However, most of us have relationships that span across some distance and sometimes we just have to trust that God is watching over our loved ones; whether they are climbing stairs or mountains, driving golf carts or stock cars, drinking water or whisky, teaching or learning. Whatever their varied situations, they are beyond our control and often beyond our assistance as well. We think of them fondly, we write and call, we pray for them. Yet, when those whom we care about are far away we must trust them to the tender care of the One who is ever with them. That’s when a few simple words bring a world of peace and comfort … may God be with you.

God Be With You
As I sat in church this morning
Without you by our side
I must admit, I’m a little sad
But also filled with pride
I’m excited for your brand new life
Though it is far from me
Because it’s the life God chose for you
Filled with opportunity
So though you are not with us
In our old familiar pew
I know wherever you may be
God will still be there with you
By Frank Carpenter ©