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my commitment

As a parent, I know I'm not alone in wanting the best for my children. And as a bit of a control freak, I wish I could plan everything out for them and lay life out before them as a road map with a neatly detailed route.

As my own parents can tell you, though, you can't lay life out nice and neat for your kids. No matter your plans for your  kids, life happens and things have a tendency to veer off track. We can plan all we want to, but really all our planning amounts to very little.

So what can we do for our kids? "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." (Proverbs 22:6)

I have. like so many other parents out there, huge dreams for my kids. If you ask me, nothing is out of reach for them and no dream is too incredible. I grew up being told I could do anything I put my mind to, no matter how crazy it may seem to others, and I have that same belief for my kids. They are already amazing, even at 6 and almost 4.

No matter what they accomplish, though, none of it will matter if they aren't following the Way.

And no matter what my plans are, my dreams are, for my kids, they can't even begin to compare to the plans God has for them.

So, as hard as it is for me to let go of anything I have plans or (a common theme, I know), I know I have to let go of my plans for my kids. Instead, I have to hand them over to God and admit that He loves them way more than I ever could. I have to admit that they are His--and just under my stewardship for a short while. My job is not to plan the future for them, or even to make sure life goes smoothly for them. My job is simply to teach them to follow the One to whom they belong.

Simple, but not easy.

I have dreams for my kids, but what outweighs those dreams is the desire for my kids to learn to follow God.

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5&6)

"Show me Your ways, O LORD, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long." (Psalm 25:4&5)

So to my kids, I say:
I love you more than you'll ever know, but you aren't truly mine--you belong to God, and He has simply blessed me with the chance to hold your hand for a while. With that, though, He has also charged me with the responsibility of setting you on the right path--His path.

So cling to Him, learn from Him, love Him, and follow Him. "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37) Know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you belong to Him.

This may be hard for you to believe, but I'm letting go. I'm handing you back to the One who loaned you to me with this promise: "Now I commit you to God and to the Word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." (Acts 20:32)

I love you..."infinity times infinity!"

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Thoughts? I would love to hear them!
~Mandy

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