Have you ever felt both happy and sad at the same exact time for the same exact reason?
This week, I will drop off our first child at college.
I celebrated with her when she read the acceptance letter to her first choice school. I really got excited when her scholarship came through, making the dream a reality.
I look at the wonderful young lady she has become and I could not be happier for her. She’s been offered many opportunities and I continuously encourage her to seize them.
I’m her mom. I am so proud of her, so excited for her, and can’t wait to see where God leads her next. As her mom, I know I will miss her desperately.
As she’s been saying good-bye to everyone, it’s really sinking in. She won’t be at the dinner table. I won’t she her across the church, seated in the teen pew. I won’t get to embrace her and pray with her before bed each night.
How can I feel so happy, so excited, and so sad, simultaneously?
The God who created those emotions and who created me also gave recorded wisdom on this matter. Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 reads, “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”
In her preparations to move over 2000 miles away, we have shared much laughter! In those quiet times before bed, I’ve solitarily shed some tears.
God knows about those tears. He also knows about the joy I harbor,so thrilled at seeing His plans for her unfold.
He created all the emotions I’m feeling today. He knows. He will help me leave her there. He will be with her. He loves her even more than I.
Yes, there is a time for everything. Even when we weep and laugh and mourn and dance in rapid succession, He knows. He understands. And He will carry us through.