Letting Go

Last week at Disney World, Maribeth and I rode "The Seas With Nemo and Friends" at Epcot. I had to ask a few questions about the ride, because every time I've watched the movie "Finding Nemo," I was with a class of fifth-graders and would barely pay attention because it was the ideal time to catch up on paperwork. Therefore, I have never fully grasped the movie's premise, which my daughters tell me is about a parent letting go of a child.

I am trying to get this whole concept of letting go. This year I am trying to let go of 100 material things a month. While on vacation last week, I loaded all my CDs onto my computer's music library, and I am trying to decide whether to let go of all the CDs now. I am trying to let go of old prejudices, attitudes, and harmful thought patterns. I would especially like to let go of bad habits and extra pounds.

But it's all hard work. It's especially hard when it comes to my children. I would prefer for them to live in a perfect world where everything will go wonderfully well for them and they will never be hurt. I want them to succeed in everything they want to do. I want them to be surrounded by people who love them for who they are. I want them to be protected and safe.

But I know I have to let them go. I know they have to learn by their experiences because it is through those experiences that they will come into their own lives. It is by those experiences they learn who they are and what they are capable of. It is by those experiences that they will grow. I just want all those experiences to be good experiences.

My children are young adults and well beyond needing my guidance and protection. I know I have to let them go. So I have to bite my lip and wish them well. This would be near impossible, except for one thing. I know as I let them go, they don't go alone. The One who entrusted them with me in the first place, goes with them wherever they go. He watches their steps and feels their joy and pain even greater than I do, because He created them.

So maybe in the end, it's not about letting them go. It's about trusting God enough to let them go with Him.