Ok, it is time for the ripping to begin.  I am talking about the season when our college kids go back to their campuses or our big kids go back to their jobs or our babies go off to college for the first time!Or maybe it is your baby going off to Kindergarten or your homeschooler going off to school for the first time as a 6th grader or 8th grader.  I have talked with you all.

Waaaaaahhhhhhhh....the cry heard round the world.  Moms everywhere unite- you know what I am talking about.Sometimes we are glad and happy when the latter part of August rolls around and we are READY for that one to get the heck out of Dodge...usually I only feel  a little like that and more the bittersweet mom-mix of,

Bittersweet.  Not sure I really like that word, but I think it describes motherhood well.Does it ever get easier to say goodbye?  I think yes, it does, but it still is hard.  A few days pass, or weeks pass and you "see" your child in their new world and see that it is all going to be ok- really great sometimes.  We don't want them to come home and live, really, but it does hurt to see them walk off and enter the dorm door or  move away through the security line at the airport.  But isn't this what we have been preparing them for?  A life apart from us,  independence, standing on the promises of God and living!Yes, we have been preparing them, but don't forget to prepare yourself.  Not sure how to do that, really.  Grace yourself when you get sad.  Hug those necks and let your kids see you cry- it is ok.  Good and right, really.  And it is part of the whole deal.  No one tells you about this part when you get that little bundle all swaddled up in the hospital.  But we don't really need to know this part then.  God doesn't give us grace for our imaginations.  Just the here and now.I have talked to so many in the past few weeks in all stages of sending kids off and let's just say:It is Hard!It is bittersweet.Crying is ok and encouraged.One friend I talked with was at the grocery store buying potatoes, and I made her start crying, sorry!  But it is ok to cry and as friends, we need to make ourselves a safe place where people can cry.So, in these dog days of August as schools start back all over, remember to be ready with a shoulder if someone needs to cry or vent.  Let's remind each other of the SURSEE of a new day and that He is faithful to walk with us in these rippin' off arms days.  Let's be real and talk about the Bittersweet and remind each other of the truths that we know.  He is good.  Always.

Longhorn #1

Longhorn #2

W&L Man