My youngest son is being married today. He is marrying a lovely girl who has his values and morals, and appears to be his soul mate. I’ve never seen him more happy and so scared at the same time!
I feel the pride of motherhood when I look at my young man. Memories flood my mind of the baby he once was, his growing up years, and of the fine, Godly man he has become. I have had the very same reactions when my daughter and my older son married. But knowing this is the last one to finally cut the proverbial apron strings somehow makes this wedding a bit different.
Not only is my son beginning his new journey, and fulfilling his destiny with this perfect partner, passing into his future with energy and gusto. This mom too is now experiencing the pangs and joys of the Rights of Passage. Of course I am well pleased with his choice, and am proud of his course in life, but now as I see his allegience change from me to her, which has been in process for nearly a year now, I also feel a bit bereft, a kind of lonliness in my soul, if you will. For this is my last babe, the one who clung to mama more than the others when he was little, the one who lived with us longer than the others. And because he chose to wait till his middles 30’s to marry, the one who it seemed like was still devoted only to his mama.
Does this make sense? No, of course not! But maybe it does in some small, hidden ways. Chris has always been independent once he grew up. While close to me, he was always his own man. But I never lost that feeling that he was still the baby. He, like his older brother, is military, which matured him even more. So I have stood back, observing him through his college years, then straight into the army, through two deployments to war, and now to this place in his life, this important place, where his Rights to Passage are finally being realized.
While I have these kinda happy/sad emotions, losing a son, gaining a daughter stuff, I am also filled with great joy for him. And for his lovely bride, Erin. As I partake in and enjoy this day with them, I pray God will bless their union, and that they will honor His great goodness in their lives.
So now it is my turn to realize that I also have entered into another Rights of Passage in my life. A mother who has raised her children the best she knew how, who depended on God to brings us through all the trials, hardships, and joys we shared, and now to witness success, happiness, and God’s will for those same children’s lives. My life now is content in their arrival, in a ‘mission accomplished’ kind of view, yet with an open and excited heart for what comes next…the days, months, and years of the rest of all our lives to come.
The Rights of Passage bring new adventures and experiences from the bottomless pot of God’s blessings. While some of these passages may contain conflicting emotions and signals, they are to be welcomed and embraced with gusto, grace, and thanksgiving!
Blessings!
Lili Richey Willard
angelwingdevotionals 