As I sit here in tears...

I just finished watching one of my favorite tv shows and one of my very favorite episodes.
It's the Andy Griffith Show and the episode was "Opie the Birdman". Oh my, tears everytime I watch it! Opie accidentally kills a mother bird with his slingshot. When Andy gets home from work he notices the mother bird in the yard. At supper that evening, he tells Aunt Bea that the neighbor's cat killed the mother. Opie runs up the stairs. Andy knows what has happened. As punishment, Andy opens the window so Opie can hear the baby birds crying for their mother. (this is where the tears start) Opie decides to raise the baby birds. He names them Winkin', Blinkin' and Nod. Of course Barney tells him how to speak to them, what they are saying to each other and how creatures of the wild are raised because Barney knows things like that. Opie feeds the baby birds and takes care of them. As they get bigger, Andy ponders how Opie will handle letting the birds go. Opie finally says they need to get a bigger cage and Andy tells him he knows what he has to do. Opie is afraid he hasn't done all the right things, that maybe the birds can't fly. Andy assures him the birds will be fine. Opie opens the cage and one by one he tells Winkin', Blinkin' and Nod that he hopes he has done all the right things and he releases them into the air where they fly off into the trees. Opie looks at the cage and says, "The cage sure looks awful empty, don't it Pa?" Andy replies, "Yeah, but don't the trees seem nice and full?" That's the point I totally lose it.

I wish we had tv shows like this today. The conversation between Andy and Opie before letting the baby birds go is so sweet and so true. We hope and pray we do all the right things for our children, we pray for them, we try to lead them. Then they get wings and no longer need us for the things they used to need us for. We pray as parents that our children remember their roots and the things we try to teach them and we just have to leave the rest to God. We have to trust Him to take care of the things that are no longer in our control. Ruth Bell Graham said, "As a mother, I must faithfully, patiently, lovingly, and happily do my part - then quietly wait for God to do His."

Letting go of our children all comes down to trusting God. Nothing really belongs to us. It all belongs to Him. We only borrow our chidren for a short while and within those few short years we must pray and trust God.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.