Mission trip

My thirteen, almost fourteen, year old son will be leaving in a week on a mission trip. This will be his first mission trip and will be the first time he is more than a couple hours away from home. His youth group has been planning and meeting to get ready for the trip. I have been praying for him and his companions that they stay safe, have a good time, learn and grow and touch others for Christ.

It's always been very hard for me to let my kids leave my sight. They were such an undeserved gift and I truly believe that God gave them to my husband and I with a great responsibility to raise them up right. I remember when my son when on his first school trip without me. My husband was there but I almost needed medication because I was afraid that something would happen and I wouldn't be there to prevent it.

I think God placed on my heart that day a remembrance of the day my son was born. I read the story of Samuel in my bible study that day. How his mother, Hannah, gave him to Eli in the temple because she recognized that only God allowed her to be Samuels mother and she recognized that God had given her a gift to be Samuels mother. Hannah recognized that she wasn't in control of the situation anymore than I am today. God is in control and He would keep Samuel and my son safe if that is His will.

That day, as I was freaking out about my own son getting run over by a bus or something silly like that, it dawned on my that my children are not MY children but GOD'S children. I was granted the privilege of raising them, loving them, teaching them and even correcting them; but in the end, if I am successful, they will be GOD'S children. And God would never leave them on a field trip or a mission trip or even a bike ride on their own.

I still get freaked out about them getting too far away from me and when I do, I get my bible out and re-read that story. I may be reading it often over the course of these next two weeks.