Growing

When we started this adoption process, our kids were 9, 7, and 1. 

Now they are 11, 9, and 3.

I had a serious moment this weekend.  Evan is moving up to the middle school youth group at church.  We were invited to a parent meeting.  Part of the meeting involved observing the youth Sunday service so we could more fully understand how things are structured.  Whoa.  It's 6th-8th graders.  Probably 100-150 teenagers and almost-teenagers.  I kept thinking I was in some kind of time warp.  My little boy could not POSSIBLY be as old as these big kids. 

While I spend every day with him and know he is capable and responsible and ready to be in this next phase, I really cannot wrap my head around it completely.  It seems like it wasn't so long ago when we were begging the nurses (joking, of course) to come home with us and bring along the bassinet on wheels.  We wondered why they were allowing us to take Evan out of the hospital so soon after he was born without any adult supervision.  Surely, there was more we needed to know about him before we were to be fully responsible for him.

Each time a milestone like this is marked, I am reminded of how, from pregnancy forward, parenting involves a continuous cycle of "holding close" and "letting go."  So, we let go...for now.