Happy Mother’s Day: God’s Got This!

Learning to ‘let go and let God’ with our children

As moms, we spend a lifetime guiding, protecting, and being there when it matters, and then suddenly we can’t be there. It’s not our choice to not be there — if we’re truthful we’d probably all hold on just a little bit longer — but one day our grown children make it clear: “I’ve got this.”

My first “I’ve got this” moment felt a bit tremulous as I watched my oldest pack Benadryl, Epipens, and inhalers along with sweatshirts, baseball cards, and textbooks.

I did not have confidence that he “had this.” 22 years of emergency room visits to avert anaphylactic shock, 22 years of scouring food labels for the offensive dairy derivatives and hidden ingredients, 22 years of diligently screening every piece of food that came across his plate…How could he possibly “have this”?

No, I needed to be there, I needed to do my due diligence, others would not understand what full-body hives could mean for him, he would forget to ask what was in the homemade meatballs, he would get lax and stop checking the Oreo label and miss the new dairy laden ingredient.

I had “had this” for so long I could not imagine letting go and trusting. But trust I had to. It was inevitable, he could not stay under my watchful eye forever.

What does it mean to trust God as we watch our children move out from under our care? It means that God’s “got this” and if He needs us to step in we can trust we’ll be there or He’ll provide someone else.

He keeps you from all evil and preserves your life. He keeps his eye upon you as you come and go and always guards you. (Psalm 121:7–8, TLB)

His moving away was followed by my moving away — across the country — less opportunity to be there if needed. More opportunity to trust that God “had this.”

On a recent visit back home we ate at a popular steak house. Ryan did not inquire about the steak he ordered, assuring me that “nobody cooked steak with dairy.”

My calm exterior belied my pounding heart and mother instinct that screamed, “He definitely does NOT ‘have this’ this time!”

“Do you mind if I ask?” I surprised myself with this cooly played response!

He nodded and I inquired of the waitress. “Oh, yes!” she responded, “All our steaks are cooked in butter. I’m so glad you asked!”

1,600 hundred miles away, but God brought me to that place to assure me that He indeed “had this” and to show my son another opportunity to ensure his safety when eating out.

Moms, our children may definitely not know what they’re doing when they say “I’ve got this.” but God does! He wants us to trust Him when He reminds us that not only does He “have this” but that He’s got it all, the whole world — our whole world — in His hands.

This story is published in Koinonia — stories by Christians to encourage, entertain, and empower you in your faith, food, fitness, family, and fun.

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