Stay Strong Mommas

It's that time of year again....bookbags, pencils, early mornings and the ever so lovely car lines! It's back to school!! Now this momma has done the first day routine two years now. You know the first day I'm talking about, the snotty face crying, the fear of the unknown, the scared lump in the throat....oh and the kids are probably nervous too! Seriously, dropping off your little baby who has needed you for everything thus far in his or her life to just fend for themselves in a big scary school is enough to make you want to scream at the door "MAKE GOOD CHOICES! REMEMBER I LOVE YOU!! HEY ALL YOU MEAN KIDS...YOU MESS WITH THEM--I MESS WITH YOU!!" But you don't really want to be carted off to the padded cell so you simply smile, hold in the tears and pray with all your might that they will be alright.
I realize how hard this day is for moms and I am watching my friends go through the first day (okay week) fears as I write this. This got me thinking...what are we so afraid of?


Afraid they will be picked on?
Afraid they won't learn the same as the child beside them?
Afraid they won't remember to actually eat their lunch? (Because we know we have to remind them 17 times at our dinner table!)
Afraid they'll forget everything we taught them?
Or afraid they'll forget us all together?
Whatever the fear may be (realistic or irrational) for us, the question remains...are we going to sit by and let it overwhelm us or are we going to remember what we taught those sweet precious souls. That His perfect love casts out all fear. We taught them to call on Jesus when the bad dreams wake them in a cold sweat. We taught them to call on Jesus when Mommy is gone and their hearts are aching...hmmmm. Now there's something familiar here. Something is telling me that we Mommas need to take our own advice. Ouch! Don't you hate when that happens?
The reality of the situation is that we do have to lean on Him and remember that His love will cast out all our fears. I know it's easier to watch the minutes tick by (and wonder why your house clock is SO much slower now) and get in the elusive car line two hours early but we could try to trust that those little seeds we placed in our kids' hearts will still be there to grow as they make their way through those long hallways. The seeds that God planted in us we have given to our children. Now is not the time to run scared or be consumed with worry. Now is the time to hold strong to our faith. Faith. Ya know, that thing that means complete trust or confidence in someone or something. I tend to think about Abraham when I think about faith. I cannot imagine how he felt the many times he knew the situation was hopeless, but he held onto his faith. And he was rewarded. There's a whole chapter in Romans that highlights how he was justified by faith. It says that "he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." Wow. This makes me think back to all that God has promised me. Didn't He say he would protect me? Didn't He say he would save me? Didn't He say He would never leave? Didn't he say he would continue these promises through our children and generations to come? He did. He promised. I remember. And you know, I want to show my big 1st grader and Kindergartener that I have faith not when it's easy, but when it's hard. We can do this. We have a great supporter. The ultimate supporter.


And the last thing I will say is we have done a pretty darn good job as these munchkins mommies! We have corrected and punished, loved and snuggled, rewarded and celebrated all their lives and they will always know that! Now it's our chance to share them with the rest of the world. Let those teachers be blessed by their sweet heartfelt love or their inquisitive little questions. Let the light we helped nurture turn into a flame for the entire school to see! They will change the world....they have already changed ours, haven't they?! They will magically eat their lunch and not go hungry. They will make new friends. They will share the love in their hearts with those who have never felt important. They will raise their tender hand and answer that question right. And at the end of the day they will come running to us from that school bus or carline with eager arms ready to wrap around our necks! What a sweet reward for us being so strong! ;) Stay strong mommas, YOU ROCK and you can do this!!

Now back to this whole car line thing....wouldn't it be worth our tax dollars to have a massage section just as you get to the halfway point?! Just throwin it out there!