“She’ll be grown before you know it.” I don’t know how many times I heard it after the birth of our firstborn, but these (almost) six years later, the truth is beginning to hit me. I should have seen it written on the wall. But the writing on my walls has always been in crayon, and I’ve just always scrubbed it off with a Magic Eraser.

Now the dark-haired baby girl who made me a mama, is a blue eyed blond, and the oldest of four. She went from bouncing in her seat and bouncing off the walls, to bouncing the baby, wiping the table, and writing me love notes. On paper.

These days are are chaotic and beautiful. They are humbling, hilarious, terrifying, and above all, fleeting.

Mention this near anyone who has grown children, and the cliches start flying. “Don’t blink! They’ll be here today, gone tomorrow, and you’ll have an empty nest!” Sometimes I wish they had more advice for what to do while we’re trying not to blink. How to prepare them for “tomorrow..” for “leaving the nest.”

The world is big and scary. It seems only to get scarier, and I feel like we have way more to warn our kids about, and prepare them for, than what our parents did. We came from a different era. Unless a lot changes in the next 12-18 years, my children will leave the nest, facing a totally different world than the one we faced as young adults.

I know I can’t control what they experience, and how they experience it as adults, but I want them to experience it from a place of grounded-ness. I want them to have a foundation of faith in Jesus, and to stand firmly on that Foundation, strong against anything that might seek to harm or ensnare them.

I read recently that people never notice foundations unless there’s something wrong with them. I’m building on that thought, to say that often foundation issues aren’t uncovered until years down the road. I know parents who didn’t realize they laid the foundation wrongly until their children were grown and gone.

We are trying to look forward now, because we don’t want to be looking backwards at a broken foundation. We are doing our best to lay a foundation of faith for them. We are endeavoring with Gods help to raise children who aren’t afraid to stand alone for what’s right. Children who are strong and brave, but also gentle and compassionate. Children who understand the value of community.

Here’s where you come in. We are in the muddle and mess of young children. We’re not going to get it all right, and y’all are going to notice. If you are observing our life, and see things that need attention, we warmly welcome your input. “It takes a village to raise a child” they say. Well, then I guess we need 4 villages.

We surely don’t want to mess up our children. I know there are lots of things we need to learn. We try to pay attention, but they are growing up like weeds around us, and it’s hard work trying not to blink.

So please. Leave all your best advice in the comments. If your children are grown, what is one thing you wish someone had shared with you? What’s the best parenting advice you were ever given?

Can’t wait to hear from you. ❤️