The Long and Winding Road

I received the first desparation call today.

"Mom, I'm lost and I'm twenty minutes late to class"

Bless her heart. She wanted advice from her directionally challenged mom who hasn't been on that campus in 30+ years.

"Should I go on to class anyway?"

"Yes"

"How am I going to find my way?"

It was wrenching. She was lost and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Ask someone for directions." was my only solution.

It's not like we didn't prepare her for this:

Walk your route out the day before classes.

Take your map until you don't need it anymore.

Ask before you leave one building how to get to the next.

We had given our best advice and strategy.

Now it was up to her.

As painful as that little incident was today, it reminded me of the truth I've learned on this parenting journey:

"You prepare them the best you can, but the rest is up to them"

There have been a few other times when I've had to stand by helplessly and watch (while I wanted to cover my eyes) as these young adult children made choices that I didn't think were wise, beneficial, or practical. Sometimes the outcome was a figurative train wreck, other times just a mild bump in the road. But it was their path to walk and their experiences to learn from. I couldn't do it for them.

And so she will take a few diversions here and there and while she does, I'll pray that she remembers the map, asks for help, and eventually finds her own way.