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{Social Distancing: Week 10 (SDW10)}

This week brought about a major life event, and truthfully I am still processing it. 

My oldest child, Thomas, graduated from high school. He is officially an adult. My parenting journey with him is finished. At this point, I can only offer him advice.  He is fully responsible for the choices he makes, as well as the consequences.  

18 summers. That is what we, as parents, are given to influence, mold, discipline, and train our children so that when the time comes, they are responsible, contributing members of society. It is an arduous task that at times seemed not worth the effort. But, looking back, there really isn’t much I would do differently except perhaps cherish the time we had together. While the days were so, so long, the time has passed quickly! I look back at old photos and the memories they invoke seems like they happened just yesterday.

Homeschooling Thomas afforded me the gift of time with him, and if nothing else, that alone made the stresses of homeschooling worth it. The Lord knew what He was doing when he placed the idea of homeschooling Thomas on my heart, and the trials that we faced as a family over the years that we homeschooled provided opportunities to lean on the Lord and draw closer as a family. Would that had been possible if we hadn’t embarked on the homeschool journey? I can’t definitively answer that, but my gut tells me no. Homeschooling grew me in ways only homeschooling could; in no other way would I be with my child for the majority of the 24 hours in each day.

Thomas is young for his grade, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned for his well-being when he heads to college in the fall. But again, faith and trust in the Lord to protect Thomas and give him wisdom is what I am clinging to. When the times comes for TJ and I to say our good-byes as we leave campus, Thomas will be fully-surrendered to the Lord. That is a hard to pill to swallow. For now, I am handling things okay because our life is pretty much like it always has been, but I know when we say those good-byes, I am going to lose it.  

So what is the point of this post, really? I’m not sure. I suppose it is just a means for me to express what I am feeling during this quarantine. The graduation ceremony was definitely different! It was held at a (semi-)local drive-in movie theater. The cars with graduates inside lined the first 4 rows, and all other family and guests filled the remaining. It was a celebratory time and I am ever so grateful to the faculty and staff at the school for allowing the graduates to gather together one last time before each one headed off to blaze their own path in life. The mood was joyful and fun as family and friends gathered around cars laughing, sharing stories, and making memories. My mom, Tanner, and some family friends, the Calls, attended graduation with us. It was a sweet time and honestly the best graduation ceremony I have ever attended.

Each passing week of social distancing causes me to be more thankful for the time spent with my family. I honestly expected to be tired of them, and sometimes they grate on my nerves, but overall, this is just one blessing from the Lord as He strengthens family bonds and helps us see the truly important things in life: time spent with loved ones and the memories we share.

SDW10 was bittersweet: bitter in that my time with Thomas is coming to an end, but so sweet in looking back on the memories I have as his mother. Looking forward to what SDW11 brings....

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