Feeling Nostalgic.....

I don't know why, exactly, but I have been doing a lot of remembering. Perhaps it's a sign that I'm becoming a geezer, but I am enjoying the reminiscing.....

Watching my littlest ones interact reminds me so much of my older two when they were young!  For both pairs, the oldest is a girl and the youngest a boy.  When R and J were little, R made all the plans, told J what they were going to do, made J come to ask me questions (when she thought the answer might be no - she coached him on just what to say), and generally ran the show when they were together.  Now, I see much the same dynamic with S and B!

I also spent some time recently with my sister, and we were talking about our growing up years - in one sense it seems like just yesterday I was in gradeschool wondering if I could complete the math worksheet in time, and yet, it almost feels like that was another lifetime alltogether!  I think Facebook adds to that feeling - I'm seeing friends from high school post pictures of their kids - and they are carbon copies of their parents!  Takes me right back to our time in high school....

I went to my high school's football game a few weeks ago - and was laughing at how easy it was to recognize so many of the students whose parents I knew as a teen.

I am so grateful to the Lord to see how my children are growing up (in spite of their mother's many many failures) and becoming ready to live life 'out there in the big world' on their own.  I'm not sure I'm ready for it, even though I see that they are becoming ready.  Lord, help me to have strength to let go when it's time, and to keep going when I feel like I have nothing to do!

Question: How are you preparing to 'release' your children?  Or, if your children are already on their own, what would you advise me about how to prepare for that time in my own life?