HARDSHIPS OF PARENTING

My precious Ellie Marie is getting married in 5 DAYS!!! It is such a bitter sweet season for all of us here at the Jerry Mestas house. How do you let go of the most precious gift from the Lord, your sweet baby girl and big sister,  who has been a joy, pleasure, and essential part of daily life and your family? How do you wake up every morning for 19 years knowing she will be your sunshine...your reason for living all day...and great support and helper. Now she will be gone; living in her own house and soon moving far away with her wonderful gift/husband from the Lord, Jonathan Micke??? It's all :MORE THAN "I" CAN HANDLE!! This is the worst part of parenting...I hate my babies leaving me!!!! I just hate it!!!! I love my Melissa Pearce and my Jonathan Mestas (who left for the Army in March) and my Ellie Marie with all of my heart!!! I love being their Mama, I love having them in my kitchen and in my house every single day...every single day...every single day! They have been my life....and now...they are all grown up and moving away...flying the nest.

Melissa and her husband just became owner/operators of a Chic-fila store in GA. They will be setting up permanent residence and taking my three beautiful grand babies away from us. No more living in the same town and being together for Sunday meals, birthdays, holidays, and just every day life together.

Jonathan turns 23 years old this Thursday, June 6th and he is in boot camp in the ARMY! He is gone for at least four years and only the Lord knows the plans He has for him now. He will not be home for his traditional birthday dinner, chicken cutlets, mashed potatoes and corn and yummy birthday cake. He is no longer going to be walking through the door and heading to the pantry and frig to see what's good to eat.

And Ellie will be going with her husband Jonathan who has been awarded and Officer/Pilot contract in the Air Force after they get married. She will be in Texas for at least nine months and never again sleeping in her room and being here with us to do every day life!

All of this has just happened within the last few months and I am just drowning in sadness right now!

I am sooooo proud of each one of them, I really like and love them and the wonderful people they have become. They love the Lord Jesus and serve him faithfully. I am so grateful for their wonderful spouses and the things the Lord is doing in their lives. But, I am just very, very, very, sad,  and I am mourning the loss of them being here with me. I know this is normal, and it is all for their good, but it is hard!  REALLY HARD!!!

Today as  I read the Bible, I was reminded of how Mary endured so much joy and hardship as the mother of Jesus. She was given the miracle and privilege of birthing and raising the son of God, the Savior of the world! What an honor and responsibility.

A crisis of belief stared Mary in the face when Gabriel, God's angel announced to her  "You are about to bear a son." How could that be? Mary was not married and she was a virgin. That was just what God said would happen as he spoke through Isaiah long ago. (Isaiah 7:14) This is God's way. He takes prophecy and shows how he is working to make it happen in a person's life. The angel's message troubled Mary. Too young..not ready..unable to understand what God was doing. The angel had the answer. TRUST GOD! HE LOVES YOU! He is giving you a unique invitation to be the mother of his unique Son. God in the Person of the Holy Spirit would bring this to pass. Mary had to be available as God's obedient servant. She had to believe God's Word: With GOD NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE! (Luke 1:37)

The experiences surrounding Jesus' birth proved to be only the first adjustments. Her entire life became a process of adjusting to new experiences with God. Watching Jesus realize who he was involved Mary's understanding of his loyalty to the Father over her as family. Being faithful to him and his mission meant leaving the security of home to wander the roads of Galilee with him.

Thus Mary showed her faith and loyalty as she endured hardships with her Son--even the hardship of the cross.  (Experiencing God)
 
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
 
Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it , put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he received the drink, Jesus said, "IT IS FINISHED." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. "

The last act Jesus performed right before he died, was an "ADOPTION"  between his mother Mary and John, the disciple whom he loved! He did not want her to be alone and made sure she was going to be well loved and taken care of.  There in LOVE, Jesus rewarded her, giving her a new son to care for as well.

As I reflect on this reading today, I am so grateful and honored the Lord saw fit to bless me with the gift of motherhood. He gave me three beautiful children in my youth, and now, in LOVE, he has blessed me with five more precious children through "ADOPTION" to care for and love and train up to know him in my old age. What a gift! How wonderful of HIM to know my heart so well and to care so much for all of us that HE made us a family! Just as He knew it was time for Him to die, he performed this adoption. Just as He knew it was time for our birth parents to die and/or their inability to parent our precious little ones, HE saw fit to place them into our hearts and lives and to take them into our home forever...just as John took Mary and Mary took John.

How gracious is my LORD to show this to me today! I love the way HE is faithful to speak to me in my pain and to bring comfort. He shows me how intentional He is in every detail of my life. What a loving, kind and compassion FATHER HE IS! What a beautiful picture of LOVE the Father lavishes on HIS children! Thank you Lord for this blessing.

As I grieve the loss of my older children leaving our home and pursuing the plans HE has for them, I look forward to the work, memories and yes even hardships I still have to enjoy with my precious little ones whom I dearly love.  I pray daily for their spouses He has waiting for them and look forward to seeing the plans HE has for each of them as well.  I pray I will steward this life well, like Mary, enduring the joys and hardships as I walk by faith and seek to fulfill the plans and purpose HE has for me to glorify Him alone!

There is joy in the mourning......

In HIS TIMING & CARE,

Eileen