Time To Let Go!

Letting Them Go
By Charlotte

I raised them to adulthood,
Kissed them on the cheek,
Watched them go into the world,
Their own lives now they seek.

All the years of planting,
God’s truth within their heart,
To be a compass guiding them,
A godly course to chart.

It’s time to walk without me,
My eyes tear as they go,
Their steps at times seem shaky,
Testing all they know.

I’m sure they know the Savior,
They accepted Him back when,
They were little children,
Did they understand it then?

At times they don’t act like it,
They choose to disobey,
The truths that I have taught them,
And go the other way.

Those times my heart feels broken,
And I can hardly stand,
Did I teach them all they needed,
When I still held their hand?

I poured my days into them,
I hope that time’s not lost,
I’d do it all again right now,
No matter what the cost.

When they feel the storms of life,
Toss and blow them down,
Will their foundation hold them?
Will they stand on solid ground?

The seeds that I had planted,
God moistens with His dew,
He placed a hope within me,
To trust His work’s not through.

He’s been there all the time,
Helping them to choose,
It’s me He wants to step aside,
Now circumstance to use.

He’s teaching them to listen,
To the Holy Spirits voice,
His words of conviction,
When they make the wrong choice.

What He’s doing in their lives,
He’s doing in mine too.
Strengthening my trust in Him,
And all that He can do.

Do I believe He’s holding them,
Within His arms of grace?
Lovingly teaching them,
Do I trust Him in my place?

Can I believe my weaknesses,
Were there to show His strength?
And things I tried to measure,
In Him there is no length?

He knew before He chose me,
I couldn’t do it all.
At times I’d have no answers,
And many times I’d fall.

It’s not so much my standing firm,
He made sure that they knew,
But when I stumbled and I fell,
Who did I hold on to?

Did I cling to my savior,
When times were getting rough?
Did I run into His shelter,
Or did I reach for other stuff?

This is the greatest lesson,
A Mom can ever teach -
Our God is right beside us,
He’s there within our reach.

This one thing I’ll remember,
When they walk out of that door,
Is Christ still walks beside them,
As He always did before.




I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that You are able to keep that which I have committed unto You against that day.
(2 Timothy 1: 12)

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
(Philippians 1: 6)

If I should say, “My foot has slipped,” thy loving-kindness, O Lord, will hold me up.
(Psalm 94:18 NAS)

Life without the Fair

This will be my family's first official year not being involved in the county fair. No more white 4-H uniforms to “spray and wash,” and “spray and wash,” again. No more green crumpled hat balls found in the pockets after being permanently dried into that position.

No more goats to hoax into the back of our minivan filled with bedding and alfalfa, just moments after bathing them on the front lawn as their loud, “Maaaa’s” are heard throughout the neighborhood. No more drivers laughing at us as we pass by with goats staring at them out the windows. No more holding our noses all the way to the fairgrounds because of a gassy goat.

No more second trips to pick up rabbits and guinea pigs timidly waiting on the driveway by the barn. No more scolding boys for forgetting their show leads or water buckets or a dozen other things left behind in the past. Nope, no more fair for us.

It really was quite a bother; lots of work. Every year I vowed I would never do it again as I packed lunches into ice chests and loaded up the folding chairs. Getting home late every night and up early every morning wore on us, until around day three when the melt down would occur and someone would start crying. OK, it was me. My boys never cried, just me. By the last day I was exhausted!

Tomorrow the fair will start on time as usual. It will go on without us and probably not even notice that we aren’t there. You would think with all the work and crying I’ll be missing that I would be glad to be done with it. You would think. But what you don’t know is that today, as I moved our last very old bunny out of the barn, I was flooded with memories of little boys holding their show rabbits. They were so cute dressed in their white uniforms; big smiles across their faces. And I remembered them in the ring with their cleaned up goats, proudly accepting their ribbons from the judge and turning to see if I was watching.

I will not miss the work or the goats in the van, but what I will miss is the time spent with four little boys who are now too old for such things as showing rabbits, washing goats, and wearing white uniforms. I am thankful for the time God gave me with them at the fair and those wonderful memories, as I find myself once again in tears at fair time.

A Different View

It has been a few weeks since I wrote the poem about the flowers growing in a hard place. Today in my bible study, I read about God being our eternal bedrock and I was asked to draw a picture of an image that I viewed as representing faithfulness. Immediately the picture of those flowers growing in the rocks came to mind and caused me to see them from a brand new perspective.

Instead of a hard place, I saw the rocks as an anchor and stable foundation. Everything the flower needed to grow was provided there. It was also protected from the wind, and something not seen in the picture was the beautiful river that flowed just left of where it grew in the rocks. Could it be that I mistook God’s very presence and faithfulness for what I considered to be a hard place to grow? Or perhaps there is a spiritual lesson for me to learn from both perspectives.


He is our bedrock, where ever we are planted. His mercy and grace are steadfast and make what seems an impossible place to grow, bud forth with life!