Kindergarten Preparation

I am feeling a bit unprepared to send my firstborn off to Kindergarten in less than a week's time.  First off, I can hardly believe it.  Where did the time go?  He was just this little man.  

Now, look at him.  I listen to him speak some times and I just marvel over how much he has grown, and how much he just gets it.  He is a really good kid: sweet, tender, smart, courageous and sensitive.

I'm not fearful that he can't write his name, or that he'll have separation anxiety or that he doesn't know how to behave in social situations.  He will get on that bus Monday and be joyful for the next adventure.  He will love being in school.

What I think I'm afraid of is losing the little Micah that I know.  I realized because we never put him in preschool that this will be the first time I'm sending him out into the world with people who may tell him bad things or teach him bad things.  I'm afraid he'll lose his innocence.  The child who is so sweet, so forgiving, and so tender to his brothers; a little boy who is confident in who he is and who his God is.  What if he comes back with an attitude? more prideful?  Or he's kinda mean?  What if he comes back fearful of some other child who's been mean or bullied him?  What then....?

When our children are young, we can monitor their every moment, control their environment, and guard their safety. But as they grow, they begin to move out into the world on their own. We are no longer in control of who they see, where they go, and what they do. For me, this is where faith enters the picture. Perhaps nothing on earth is more testing of our faith than the time when our children begin to sever the bonds that have held them close to us. Letting go of children doesn’t mean simply turning them loose in the world to fend for themselves. It means turning them over to our heavenly Father who loves them more than we ever could, and who guides and guards them according to His perfect will. The reality is that they are His children; they belong to Him, not to us.  The more faith we have in Him, the less fearful we are and the more we are willing to turn our children over.

What a faith walk this is....