As we get ready to send our kids back to school, we are resharing our Seasons of Motherhood: College post with you!
In life, there’s a season for everything, including motherhood. Just like winter transitions to spring, moms transition from diapers and bottles to lunchboxes and little league, to learners’ permits, and prom dates. There’s beauty and struggle in each season, and whether you’re looking fondly backward or eagerly forward, we’re here for all of it!
My name is Angie, I’m in the COLLEGE stage of motherhood, and I feel settled in grace.
Grace to navigate the unknown.
Grace to let go of what I can’t control.
Grace to trust the seeds that have been planted.
Grace to love generously.
Grace to be what my daughter needs me to be.
Grace to navigate this stage day by day, week by week.
Today, I can say it is well in my heart and mind.
I can exhale and delight as I watch a miracle unfold before my eyes. My daughter, like a baby bird taking flight; doing what she was always meant to do.
In the months leading up to sending my daughter off to college, I had resolved to transition well in every sense of the word. I wanted the last few months to be about cementing our bond in love and trust. I wanted to prove myself safe to her. I committed to studying and listening to her well. My desire was to honor her and support her as she needed. Truly, these things started years ago. So, friend, make it a lifelong choice. If you’re a mom of a little one, I give you this: You are not raising children; you are raising adults.
When the time eventually comes to send off your baby birds, the whispers will flood your mind, “Did I teach them everything?”, “Are they ready?”, “Will my relationship with them remain the same?” Sometimes like a teacher anxiously wondering if their students are ready for a standardized test, saying, “If only there was more time to cover more.” At times it is very overwhelming and suffocating to sit in.
But guess what? You know. They will learn as they go, and you will stand by ready to provide the care, support, and love you know they will need. And you, mommy? You will continue to evolve and transform.
In every stage, the growth is parallel. They learn, you learn. They grow, you grow. In the college stage, they fly, you fly.
