DOWN HOME: Love means letting those chickees fly

Posted: 6/09/06

DOWN HOME:
Love means letting those chickees fly

So, this is why I lay awake all those nights.

Four years ago this summer, I endured Lord-knows-how-many sleepless nights. Our oldest child, Lindsay, had just graduated from high school and was preparing to head off to college.

Seems like every time I woke up in the night that summer, I thought about Lindsay. She still was where Joanna and I reveled in her being: Home. Upstairs. Asleep. Under our roof. Right where she belonged.

All summer, when I thought about Lindsay leaving, I ached. The feeling was palpable, searing. And unwarranted.

That fall, Lindsay enrolled in Hardin-Simmons University. It’s where Jo and I met and fell in love, where caring faculty and staff nurtured us into young adults.

Jo and I soon discovered HSU remained the same caring place we loved. As we drove home, just hours after we cried and hugged and kissed goodbye, Jo called to check on Lindsay. She heard laughter in the background and noticed unmistakable delight in our beloved daughter’s voice.

Well, with Lindsay happy at HSU, we were happy, too. She excelled in the classroom and matured as a Christian young adult. She met, fell in love with and married Aaron. They graduated with honors a few weekends ago. We were so proud.

Our kids have been home—our home, in Lewisville—quite a bit lately. The month after graduation is wedding season. Lindsay and Aaron have participated in four weddings in four weeks. Three of them brought them back for visits with Jo, Molly and me. We loved every minute.

But now, that’s all over.

But now, they’re grownups.

But now, they’re moving away—all the way to Orlando, Fla., where Aaron will enroll in seminary soon.

So, this is what I dreaded all those nights four years ago—hugging our baby girl, kissing her sweet face and waving goodbye. Goodbye for months. Goodbye to a city half a continent away.

Of course, Jo and I have precious room to gripe. Twenty-seven summers ago, we packed up in Abilene and moved to Atlanta, Ga., far away from our families in Texas.

And you know what? It was the best thing we could’ve done. Not because we needed to move away from the people we love. But because it was God’s will for us.

What a grand adventure. With nobody else to lean on, we leaned on each other. We learned we only thought we loved each other the day we married. Together and far from home, our love blossomed. God showed us places and introduced us to people we couldn’t have imagined on our own. We cried when we left home, but moving blessed us beyond measure.

Now, as I miss those kids and long to hug Lindsay again, I pray God will bless them as he blessed Jo and me. And I believe that will be so—because they’re pursuing God’s plan for their lives.

And if that is so, I’m sure God will heal this aching daddy’s heart.

—Marv Knox