Great Is His Faithfulness

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19 NIV)

My youngest child is close to losing his first tooth, and several times a day he makes the little incisor wiggle even more violently and proudly gives me updates on its looseness.

I am not okay with this.

My heart sinks a bit as I realize my baby is growing up. After more than a decade of parenting, I still can’t accurately predict which milestones will make me beam with pride and which ones will leave me dissolving into a puddle of tears. The first loss of a tooth has shaken me more than I could have anticipated.

All those well-meaning people who told me my children would grow up too fast were absolutely correct. My oldest son’s head now rests higher than my shoulders. My daughter suddenly looks like she’s eight going on eighteen. We’ve left behind the days of potty training and letter sounds for orthodontist visits and fencing lessons. I have just seven summers more before my little chicks start leaving the nest. The time has passed in a blink.

Usually, I handle change with enthusiasm and a smile on my face. I get excited at the prospect of moving, traveling, and trying new things. I try to approach even more challenging changes, like a wrench thrown in plans or the inevitable endless hours spent indoors during Michigan winters, with a positive attitude.

Seeing my children grow up is different.

On one hand, I am so grateful to watch these three amazing humans grow into adults. Far too many of my friends have lost babies and dreams of watching them grow. I don’t take having healthy, vibrant children for granted. I also love the people my kids are becoming. They are kind, compassionate, funny, and brilliant. Now that they’re older, our conversations have a greater depth. We talk about challenging topics such as faith, social justice, and relationships. Watching them mature brings me great joy.

And yet, with each passing year, comes change. Peers might become their most essential confidantes. They will experience their first broken heart or first serious argument with a friend. They might start to wrestle with a faith that seemed so sturdy in younger years. Instead of low-risk lessons like shoe tying, they will be behind the wheel of a car learning the rules of the road. Lord, have mercy.

Ecclesiastes reminds me there is a season to every aspect of life (Ecclesiastes 3:1). I am no longer the mother with babies and toddlers clinging to her legs as she walks. My season of young motherhood is slipping behind me as I forge ahead into the middle years.

Our mama-bird instincts want to shelter our children from all the hard and ugly parts of the world, and it’s easy to be scared to release them to a world that seems so cruel. How can we face life’s changes with confidence, not fear?

God pushes us to walk alongside our children in hard times, not keep them from trials but help them navigate the path to adulthood. We are not to shelter our children but to coach and pray them through the hard times.

Just as we help our kids maneuver life’s twists and turns, God is the ever-present, loving Father taking us by the hand when changes feel scary and oppressive. We can rest in the fact that, although life changes frequently, God never changes. Hebrews 13:8 reminds us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (ESV). When life feels unpredictable, Christ’s unshakeable character can be an anchor for unsettled times.

In remembering God’s hands are at the wheel, I can relinquish my need for control, trusting him in everything—from small daily challenges to big things like the growth and development of my children. Ultimately, I know God loves and cares for my kids more than I ever could. They are his before they are mine. I can depend on him to help them grow into who he designed them to be and to help me adjust to the changes along the way.

I want to live open-handed with my children, confident and at peace that God is with them (and me) each step of the way. When I live as though God is in control of the changes in my life, I move from fearing change to embracing it.

Viewing my children’s aging from the lens of gratitude and trust enables me to enjoy the process. I still might struggle when that baby tooth finally works its way free from my little guy’s pink gums, but it will be a bittersweet day, not a sad one. It will be one more step on my son’s journey to becoming the man God knew he would be from the moment he was knit together in my womb. What a divine privilege to partner with God in the creation of life and then to watch that life bloom and grow.

You can trust God with baby teeth, broken hearts, and everything in between. Great is his faithfulness.

Lindsay Hufford is a small-scale farmer, home educator, chicken chaser, kitchen dancer, and mediocre knitter. Her favorite things include spending time with her family, exploring the natural world, reading, eating spicy food, and singing loudly in the car (to the embarrassment of her children). Lindsay believes sharing our stories will change the world. She writes about farming, homeschooling, faith, mental health, sobriety, and living an unconventional life. You can follow her adventures at peckandpetalfarm.com.