Placing our Treasures in God’s Mighty Hands

I am being nostalgic as my youngest grandchild, Bryson, is embarking on his last year of high school. I wrote this text message to my son and daughter:

“Good morning my loves. Sweet mama, I can imagine how you’re feeling as your last child and my last grandchild is heading out to his last high school year. Oh my! Oh my! What a precious and sweet young mean Bryson has been. I tear up, just thinking about the sweetest of times with him. Now we get to celebrate his manhood and being all that God has destined him to be and do. I look forward to all the celebrations for him this year.”

My son replied: “It’s been a morning full of tears, but also of incredible happiness celebrating the amazing journey our boy has had. We love you!”

Now to you, my friends, who are sending your kiddos off to school for the first time or this is your last school year for your child. I encourage you they are not going it alone. They are being sent off into God’s loving arms that will protect them and assure them of great success.

As long ago as it was, I remember my own “mama’s heart”. This photo is of my two on their first day of school (first grade and third grade in Cleveland, OK).

I wondered how they would handle a brand-new school and classroom with kids they didn’t know and if they’d find a close “good” friend and not hang around the wrong crowd. I wondered if they’d do well in their classes. Some of you may be fretting about your prank-pulling middle schooler, earnestly hoping he doesn’t make a habit of getting called to the principal’s office.

You may be stressing over academic concerns. “Will my struggling second grader ever make progress in her reading? Will my high schooler graduate with honors, or better yet, will my high schooler graduate?”

But more than all those “school days” concerns, we also long for our kids to be spiritually and physically healthy. Long ago, in my children’s early years, I found an antidote to worrying about my children in the story of Mary and Jesus.

Luke 2:52 mentions four areas Jesus grew in as a young boy: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.”

Jesus grew wiser each year. He physically grew. His relationship with His Heavenly Father continually strengthened. Jesus even gained favor with people here on earth who saw Him day after day. And how I love the simple sentence that precedes this: “His mother kept all these things in her heart.”

We never see Mary fretting and fussing, worried and anxious. She pondered about her son and his growth, but she didn’t allow her mama heart to become rattled.

Let’s strive to be like Mary. Let’s turn our anxious thoughts into treasured prayers, kept safe and held fast by our loving Father — the one who knows our hearts and loves our children even more than we do.

When a concern pops up in our mind, let’s carry that concern to God. When we start to fear for our child’s future, let’s petition the only one who knows exactly what the future holds — THE ONE Who knows everything about everything.

When we turn our worries into our prayers, we’ll realize our children aren’t the only ones being taught; we are learning life-long lessons in trusting and treasuring, knowing God is in control.