Preparing Your Kids to Fly - The Glorious Table

My friend discovered a nest in a tree next to her driveway, and she watched it all summer. It was perfectly hidden behind a few branches but easily seen when you knew which ones to pull back. Each time my friend bent one of those branches, she witnessed a new stage of development happening right on cue. Tiny eggs nestled in a warm, safe spot. Momma bird brought food to her pink babies. Fully feathered babies chirped and bounced inside the nest.

One day I was with her as she made her daily nest check. She pulled back a branch, but she didn’t lean in as I expected. Instead, she jumped back in surprise as a baby bird took its maiden voyage inches from her face! She turned to me with wonder in her words. “I can’t believe it! These birds have never flown before!” With her next breath, she told me how she was sure they were ready.

I said those words a week later as we loaded my twin daughters’ belongings into our van bound for their freshman year college dorm: “I know they’re ready, but I can hardly believe it!” While the words squeezed around a huge lump in my throat, they also threatened to burst into an excited scream! It felt utterly impossible. How could I be so sure? The tiny babes who had depended on me for every need now didn’t need my skills or even physical presence to fly. It shouldn’t be true, I thought, but deep in my bones, I knew it was.

I’ve learned to trust the confidence in my gut a little more each time I’ve watched one of my own birdies fly. Our twins are the fifth and sixth of our babies to launch. Every one of them has proven true the suspicions I had watching them as they grew—they have what it takes. Flying is inevitable. The sight of a full-grown bird being fed in the nest by his mommy is a cautionary tale, not an observation of an awe-inspiring creature. In the same way, a time comes when our home is too small for the wing-spreading our kids need to do. The time is coming. We need to be ready.

Click here and join me at The Glorious Table to read my tips for helping your Momma heart gain the confidence you need to be ready to watch those birdies of yours fly!

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