I Wish I Could.......

I wish I could...................................put my children in a bubble and protect them from all harm. Forever. I wish there was a guarantee that if you do the best you can, teach them right from wrong, take them to church, rock them as babies, read out loud to them when they are small, that everything will be okay. Better than okay. Terrific! I wish that if you taught them to be kind to animals and all of God's creatures, to look both ways before crossing the street, to treat people the way you want to be treated, to speak words of kindness, to be helpful, to be respectful to their elders, and to clean up after themselves, that life would be incredible! I wish I could be guaranteed that they would be successful in life, in every area. I want them to have an excellent education, to obtain a great job, to live in a nice neighborhood, to marry someone who truly loves them for who they are, not who they WANT them to be. I want them to make beautiful babies, and to be happy and healthy and to be thankful for ALL Things. I want them to have the right kind of friends and TO BE the right kind of friend, to those who come in their lives.
I guess you could say, I want what we all want as parents: THE VERY BEST FOR OUR CHILDREN.
But, (you had to know it was coming) we do not have a guarantee. They come to us with NO DIRECTIONS attached. We live and we learn how and what to do, as we are doing it. It is truly, on the job training. We pray and we do the best we can, and we make mistakes along the way, and life goes on. We wake up one day, and that tiny little baby we brought home from the hospital that was 8 lbs. and 20 in. long is now 6'2 and 170 lbs. (The other little darling is 9 yrs. old and she is 65 lbs.)
When did that happen??? It happened while we were living life. While we were laughing and loving and crying and driving carpools. People say: "you better enjoy every minute of it! You will miss the chaos when it is gone!" So this is my prayer:

"Lord help me live today to the fullest. Help me parent this child in the way you would have me to. Help him make good decisions. Help him know that he has a good foundation on which to build on and parents who love him. Help him know Lord, that nothing is impossible with you. Be his protector. Go out before him and show him the way. Give him wisdom, direction and guidance. Thank you Lord, that even though I do not know what the future holds, you do, and you have a plan and a purpose for our lives. Above all else Lord, I pray for him to have a heart for you. I know that if he has a heart for you, everything else will be okay. That is my guarantee!"