Mom, Was I Like This?

So...what a feeling this having grown up children is.  

When they were little or when they were 14 I had such a different view of what that would look like.  Now here I am...it's a totally different ball game!  I sure see things differently. 

 So I asked my Mom...was I this independent?  To which she laughed hysterically.  At 18 I went to Bible College before cell phones, facebook and email.  One phone on the floor of my dorm for us to use.  She said she would call my floor and I was gone and she wouldn't hear from me forever.  Then I did call to tell her about this guy I met and that I was getting engaged and would be married in May.  

Why was everyone so worried? I wondered.  Good grief.  What world did I live in?

Now I know why she and the girls wrote so many letters to me (which I saved them all) trying to keep me grounded in the real world-that I had taken leave of!

Then married and expecting and no phone.  Finally she brought up cases of canned beans and fruit to make sure "her grandson" was eating well.  All of this while raising five girls and running a boarding house.

However, she wisely said, "Heather, this is what they have to do.  Leave.  And come back to have grown up family relationships!"

 Leave physically, financially, mentally and spiritually from my household and create their own.  Yes, they will always be my babies even when they are having ones of their own.  Yes, they will always love their mama, respect their Dad and look after their brothers.  

Yes, I've raised them to be independent and I've them raised them that God and family are always first.  

They are making that happen!

So I can pout quietly for a while.  Cry when no one is looking.  Pray like a warrior!