Even the Changes Change

🚨 Sappy Post Alert 🚨 

Amelia moves back to Columbus tomorrow for her senior year at Ohio State. 

While my feelings aren’t as overwhelming as they were the first time we took her, I am still so sad. And then I feel guilty for feeling sad because she is alive and healthy and working hard to chase after her dreams - and that’s all so wonderful. 

I’m excited for the fun she will have and proud of how independent and resolute she is. It’s all good stuff and I am so thankful for that and I don’t take that blessing for granted. 

But. 

I will miss the everyday-ness of her just being here. Her shoes by the door and her purse thrown wherever. The “stuff” that means she’s around. 

I won’t feel embarrassed or ashamed for how sad I feel each time she leaves after a summer or Christmas break. Yes, I know this is what’s supposed to happen and what we raised her to do. But those years of pouring into her give me the right to shed as many tears as I want. 

And it isn’t just her. It seems like, once your kids become teenagers, time moves twice as quickly as it did before. 

Owen is starting college at Ashland University in a couple weeks. He’ll be living at home, which will be nice, but I worry for him because change is hard for him. Not only will he be starting his own grand college adventure, but his friends are also preparing to go back to their schools, most of them a distance away. 

Wilson is also going through a transition, having recently decided that soccer wasn’t fun anymore and The Beautiful Game wasn’t so beautiful anymore. For a kid who has played since kindergarten and a family that has had soccer players for the past 14 years, it has been a sad season. 

We’re so proud of him for taking his time and really praying and thinking through the decision and confidently choosing what he felt was best for him. 

And finally, though it’s not a change we’re going through, as the school year approaches, it’s never far from my mind that our Haven would be a senior this year. Some milestones sting more than others and this one seems to be a painful one. 

I am more grateful than ever for a God who never changes. He is the one thing I can count on to stay the same, always.