“All Grown Up”

 In Blog, Pam Cavanaugh

When I was growing up, there were times as a child when my unnecessary behavior would force my Southern Mom to say, “When are you gonna grow up?!” I confess there must have been times when as a Mom, in the frustration of dealing with the behavior of my children, I have said, “When are you gonna grow up?!” But as the years have flown by and training has taken place, by God’s grace, my sons have grown up. As I have kept up on social media this month, I have gotten to see much of what my sons have been doing as they have ministered to children and adults in Ecuador. What a joy to watch them interact with these people; to give themselves to others. Moms, we invest a lot of our time and ourselves into our children, don’t we.

 

I sometimes come to the conclusion as I am doing self-evaluation that I did not do enough or I could have done it differently. True confessions of a mom: “I was not perfect”! 🙂 “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)

 

That kind of joy has been so real this past month. 3 John 4 says, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth.” Blessings, oh unspeakable, when your children walk in the truth and want to give themselves to spreading the truth of the Gospel to others.

 

The fact that I trust in a perfect Savior frees my soul to relax and trust in Him. After all, it is only the grace of God that carries any of us through life. Moms, we must not focus on ourselves but always trust the sovereign hand of God in the lives of our children. Destiny is a powerful word in the English language. It means “1. the seemingly inevitable or necessary succession of events: 2. what will necessarily happen to any person or thing.” But, praise the Lord, my destiny and my children’s destiny are in His hands.

 

But here is another way I would like to propose as a positive note to the saying, “When are you gonna grow up?!” If you were to look at the silly skits, characters, and costumes of my two sons, you might question their maturity! 🙂 But they have grown in wisdom and stature and I trust in their Savior. They have become men, yet their hearts are still young and vibrant. To watch them give that out to children is so rewarding to this mom’s heart. In a sense, I never want them to grow up and out of that kind of heart.

 

Yes, I have seen a lot of years now, and I never want to “grow up” in the sense of losing that heart for God; laughter, genuine love for others, not staying old and stale in mind and heart.

 

Lamentations 3:22-24 says, “It is because of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him.” And 5:21 says, “Turn us unto You, O LORD and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.”

 

So if my Mother were still alive, I would have to say to her in my Southern voice; “No, Mom, I am never gonna grow up; at least not in my heart and soul.”

 

Pam Cavanaugh

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