Letting Go

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." ~Genesis

I sat in the front row of my son's wedding and couldn't contain the tears. He was the first of our children to marry. He was leaving his father and I and starting a new family. I was no longer the most important woman in his life and I mourned the loss of that intimacy. His eyes shone as he watched his stunning bride walk down the aisle on the arm of her proud father. Letting go was harder than I had anticipated but it was made easier by my son obeying the Lord and leaving us to be one with his wife.

Fast forward to the present and they have a son and another child on the way. Like all our kids, they have lived within a half hour of the place they spent their whole lives. We've been blessed with having all the members of our family attend birthdays and holidays for several years in a house we built ourselves. That is about to change. My son is moving his family across state and they will start their own traditions. He is beginning a new chapter in their lives. I am mourning the loss of the ordinary but rejoicing with them over the freshness of change. I just wish I could contain the tears!

"Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth." ~Solomon