Comings and Goings

 "The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." Psalms 121:8

My mother may not be aware of it, but she effortlessly created ample opportunity for me to become independent. Sleep overs galore, overnight trips band and choir trips, school camps, mildly enforced curfew, permission to stroll the neighborhood with friends, and so much more. Raising children in the 80's and 90's looked a lot different from what parenting looks like nowadays. It's like a roaming lamb versus a caged mouse.  The lamb is free to explore, where the mouse is locked away with limited experiences. I'm so thankful my mother raised a little lamb. 

Of course a lot has changed since then. One major thing has changed is that there is way more fear attached to raising children. Whether it is the natural response of us 80's children to the rampant freedom we had, so now we're on the other side of the pendulum. Or maybe it is the technology that has made us hyper aware of all the danger that is out there. Whatever it is, there is fear. I've seen it others and I've seen it in myself. 

Our role as parents is to steer our children in a way where they will become healthy and productive members for society. For religious parents, we seek to encourage them towards a joyous life in God. Psalms 121:8 reminds us that the Lord can watch over our comings and goings as He did for me as a child and I pray He does the same for my children. 

Not all of us have the fear of failing to bring their children into adulthood fully prepared. But for those who have worries, I think of some encouraging examples. Hannah, who after praying years for a child, finally bore a son and then surrendered him to live with the priest Eli to serve God. She chose to trust that God would take care of him. God watched his coming and goings. 

I think of Jochebed, Moses mother who sent him down the Nile river in a basket after the Pharaoh sought to kill all the Hebrew babies. She had to trust that God would take care of her vulnerable infant child. God came through for her because Pharaoh's daughter heard the baby crying in the river and rescued him. God did more than what Jochebed asked or imagined. Because she ended up being able to nurse him throughout his infant years. God watched his coming and goings. 

Lastly, I think of God sending Jesus to earth. He was a vulnerable baby just like Moses. God had to find the right mother to carry Him, the right family to raise Him in.  Of course in God's sovereignty, He knew that the mission would be completed. And so it is with us. He will watch over our comings and goings. He will watch over our children's comings and goings. Our confidence in them, will breed their own inner confidence. We can trust that God will be with them. He watched over me in the past, He will watch my children now, and He will watch them forevermore. I sit in this truth and I trust this.  For all of these things, I am grateful.