Send Offs

Its only 10a.m and I miss them already. I haven't blogged too much about Blake and Allie's new school year because its a bitter sweet topic with me. After homeschooling for 8 years the decision to place them in their school was a hard one for me to accept. My house is quiet. There are no books scattered across the table. Our classroom is being dismantled in order to convert it into a game room later this fall. Ash is looking around the corner just waiting on one or both of them to come popping out, and I am too caught up on my house work and laundry(can you even believe I am typing that?) this week giving me extra time to miss my kids.

Please don't misunderstand me, I LOVE their school. It is one of the biggest blessings the Father has given to us. The kids don't miss being at home. They are thriving in their classroom environment and with their friends. I just miss the "clutter" and the "chatter" that comes from having them with me all throughout the day.

Several years ago I was listening to a pastor on the radio talk about preparing our children for the world around them. He spent a lot of time talking about the schools our children attend and since mine didn't I just filed his words away in the back of my mind to use at a later date. Last fall the time came for me to knock the dust off of that file and open it up to use the wisdom that had been placed there. The man on the radio was talking about sending our children into the world. Out of the safety and security of our homes and into the environments and belief systems that await them wherever they are headed. He said things that hit me hard and immediately impacted the way I parented. Would you consider sending your child(who was not a strong swimmer) into the deep end without a set of floaties? Would you send your child to the big game without his equipment? Would you send him on a field trip without a sack lunch? Would you send them off to school without their homework or a back pack? Of course we wouldn't. Any parent knows better than to "commit" one of these things. It would be like setting them up to fail. We aren't going to do that. Then why would we consider sending them out the door to catch the bus or out of our cars and into the classroom without covering them in prayer? OUCH! Although my children didn't leave my home for school I was immediately convicted by those words. How many time had I sent Blake onto the field without praying with him? How many times had my Allie gone to spend the night with a friend without her mommy praying with her before she left? How many times had I failed to prepare them for what lay in store? My heart was changed by his words. It is my job as their parent to teach them to be prepared. Not only prepared for this world and what it holds for them but "pre prayed" for this world.

Since that day I have changed the way I pray with and the way I parent my children. On the way to a tournament I allow my son to hear me pray for him. I pray with him for God's protection. Not only his physical protection but his spiritual protection as well. We thank God for the opportunities and the talents He has given. I spend time praying with my Allison before she hops out of the car and up the walk to her friends house. She hears me pray for her heart, her attitude, her innocence. I want them to be prepared for all that they will come in contact with.

So this morning as I sent them on their way to begin a new day we prayed together. We prayed for their day, their tests, their classes, their friends, their hearts, their purity, their protection. We thanked God together for their school, their teachers and their blessings. As the car doors closed and I drove off I had peace in my heart knowing that I didn't send them off unprepared. I continued to pray for these amazing kids God allowed to be mine as I drove back to my quiet little house and I was thankful for the message I tuned into all those years ago.

Ash and I will busy ourselves with much play as we wait for that time of day to come when we can jump in the car and hurry off to the front of the carpool line. Not because we have to always be first, but just because we missed them so much we can't wait any longer for them to come home.