I did my best - now You do the rest!!!!

So today, I have been getting back into my book "YOUR BOY Raising a Godly Son in an Ungodly World" by Vicki Courtney.  VERY VERY good book.  As I was reading today, it was dealing with the whole aspect of dating (AGGHHHH! He's only 10!!!) but also how to teach your son to be "nice guy" so that a Godly woman would want to date him.

I know my son has a big heart, but I also know he has a big attitude.  Which is what we have been dealing with as of late - hence the book!!!! Lots of issues, and struggles as we start to meander these tween years.

I have struggled "letting go" of my kids.  I have struggled "letting God" with my kids.  I want to help them along.  I want to keep them from harm.  I want to MAKE them do what is right.  And over the last month or so, I'm realizing it just isn't possible.

And so I have been having to give my kids to God and telling God "I did my best - - - - now you do the rest!!"

It's hard.  It's hard for a Momma to become "hands off".  As my husband and I chatted about how we have raised our children, we agreed, that we have made mistakes (and some big ones!) but as a whole, we have tried to raise our kids in a Godly home, with gentle, but firm guidelines.  And now we need to let them make their own decisions.  We can still guide them and nurture them in some of those decisions, but for the most part, they both are of the ages that THEY need to start to decide what path they are going to follow.  Thankfully, both our children have made a commitment to follow Christ early in their years, but now, as they get older, it is starting to have to play out in their every day lives.

So, as I've been struggling with the bits of "rebellion"  (OKAY - independence!!!) that my son is starting to exhibit, today God showed me that we "have done okay".

Today, I asked the kids to take the dog for a walk.  Several reasons: 1. dog needed a walk  2. kids were wired!  3. mom was tired!  A couple days ago, Peyton had mentioned that he had gone by a house that had a box labeled "FREE STUFF" and there were lots of treasures in it.  I wasn't sure exactly what those treasures were, but in the end we never did go by to check it out.  Today, on their walk, he found this house yet again.  And what happened, made me weep!!!! 

Peyton came home after their walk and said, "Mom I have something for you."  Truth is. . . I was skeptical.  I was SURE it was going to be a flower he had picked off of someone's yard, or a lily from my row of lilies (that had JUST started to bloom), but in that moment, I resolved that whatever it was that he was going to display from behind his back, I would accept it in the manner in which it was given - OUT OF LOVE!  Well, I can tell you - that boy shocked me.  He presented me with 2 nearly new books.  The first was Phillip Yancey's What's So Amazing about Grace? and the second was The Woman's Book of Courage - to which he said "Mom, I know you are scared some days to go out of the house or do things that other people can do so easy.  So I saw this book and hoped it would give you courage to do all the things that I KNOW you can do!!!"

Well, as you can imagine the tears started, but my heart was BURSTING!!!!  I could see it.  I could see God working in him.  I could see how his heart was tuned to God's and he was literally living out God's love. My ten year old was living out God because God was living in him!!!!

I thought we might have the Yancey book already in our library, but apparently we don't and so it is definitely one that both Keith & I will be reading.  I think God used our "little" boy to bring some timely words into our lives.

So yes. . . today I was reminded that despite what we do, God is still working in our kids.  God works despite us.  And we have done our best. . . . and look what God is doing with the rest.

I AM SO BLESSED