Ready to Launch

In less than a month, Warren heads up to Samford University, in Birmingham, Alabama.  From the minute we stepped on the campus, all four of us knew it was the place he needed to be!  That is.....until he went to Orientation, in June!  

He spent the night in the dorm and around 10:30pm, I got a text that said "Not gonna lie.  I'm having some withdrawals right now."  Well, I'm not gonna lie....my momma heart was soooo conflicted!  My first reaction was "ohmygosh!  This is so great, he can go to Florida Southern and be close to home!"  But then I remembered the excitement he had every time we visited the campus and the hours and hours we have all spent in prayer over the decision.....and I recognized that giving up Samford would be taking the easy road.  And while sometimes that's not a bad thing....Isaiah 43:18-19 says, "But forget all that - it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.  For I am about to do something new.  See, I have already begun!  Do you not see it?  I will make a pathway through the wilderness.  I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."  

After talking with his Orientation leader and admissions counselor, we felt certain his fears were stemming from the unknown.  And who can blame him?

Fast forward to July.  He has served on Work Crew at Windy Gap camp, in North Carolina.  At the beginning of the month, we sent him off on his first flight without us.  And he has been living his best life in North Carolina since.  Work Crew turn in their phones when they arrive and are only allowed to get them back for 2 hours each Saturday.  But who needs phones when you're in the mountains?  We're able to Facetime him on Saturdays and every time, he's told us he's had the very best time and easily wants to go back next year!  Last night, he got a 5-minute phone call from the Game Room.  He told us he's made some good, new friends and one of them has a cabin in Brevard, NC and invited him to hang out there until his flight, later Sunday night.  You can imagine how happy my momma heart was.  So excited he'd made some friends!  (Dad, on the other hand, was more interested in the logistics.  How will you get back to the airport?  If the friend's parents take you, do they know that the airport is about 45 minutes from Brevard?)  

When we hung up, I couldn't help but think back to Isaiah 43:18-19.  What he experienced in Windy Gap doesn't compare to what God's got planned for him at Samford.  And I can't help but think how beautifully orchestrated this summer was for Warren.  God knew that Warren would have doubts going to Samford.  So he prepared the way by sending him to Windy Gap, where he had a chance to learn how to "find his people".  And he learned that if he can find his people at Windy Gap, he can surely find his people at Samford.  

In preparation for this new season, I'm reading Release My Grip, by Kami Gilmour and have "realized the secret to surviving my kids leaving the next is to be fully present to support them and look forward to the future through the lens of their life, not backward through the lens of my life."  Ecclesiastes 7:10 says "Don't long for the good old days.' This is not wise."  So while I could sit in tears about "the good old days", I choose to be wise and look towards what's to come, with excitement, because I know God's about to do something new!  

During the worship service at Orientation, one of the key points the campus minister shared with us was "We aren't letting them go; we're launching them! (Proverbs 22:6)"  I think it's safe to say we are ready to launch!