She's Growing Up!

"Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

 This is the book I always teased Lyssa with!  

She's known for her MESSY, MESSY room!

I had a proud mom moment this weekend.  Lyssa was setting up her college apartment and I was unable to be there to help her.  So, "early" Saturday morning (10:00 am is early for a teenager...ha!), I checked in with her via text to see how the moving in was going before her 3 new roommates arrived to move in too.  Not only was she up, but I got a "facetime" tour of her new dwelling place.  Yahoo!

As Lyssa gave us a tour of every nook and cranny, I found myself in awe of how she made it all homey.  I wish I had a picture to show you, but there were pictures on the wall, a coffee pot on the counter, some decorations on the living room coffee table, a made bed, a towel hung up nicely in the bathroom, and only one box left to unpack.  She was not only moved in but she was settled and at home.  My girl has grown up!

I had to laugh that one of Lyssa's struggles with her new roommates on move-in day (she got to arrive a day early by permission) was the mess they made and were leaving behind all over her newly set-up apartment.  Maybe my girl learned how to be neat and tidy after all (her room during the summer would not suggest this is true however), and to love the feeling of an organized and put together home.

Sure, it's not the most important "trait" I pray she learned from me.  I pray that Lyssa learned how to live out her faith, to face into hard things, to enjoy serving the church, to take care of her family, and to love having a relationship with Jesus.  There's been a lot that I've taught her over the last 19 years (Oh how I pray that I did well enough in the teaching!), and I pray that she learned it all well. Time will tell.  Parenting is hard work, man!

Tonight Lyssa asked me to send her a recipe.  Come to find out she made dinner for herself and 4 others, and my "spies" informed me that they even cleaned up and did the dishes afterward.  Will wonders never cease!

Tomorrow my girl begins her sophomore year in college!  I pray that she has a wonderful, wonderful year, and remembers the things I have taught her as she goes out and faces the world!


Lord, We've tried to parent well, but it's so easy to doubt that we've done all that I needed to do, now that our girl is out on her own.  I pray that she can hold onto the good things that we have taught her and remember the lessons well.  Mostly, I pray that she sticks close to you and lives her life in the way you want her to live.  Holding fast to you will bring her joy, peace, and strength as she faces the world.  Amen.