I asked my mom to write a guest blog; this is from her…..
1,786.
One thousand, seven hundred and eighty-six miles. That’s the number that Find My Friends gives me when Nathan logs into WiFi at the local McDonald’s in San José, Costa Rica and shoots me a text saying, “Hi.”
That’s a lot of miles between me and my first-born. Kind, considerate, caring folks ask me almost every day, “How’s Nathan?….How are YOU?” And the compassion and gentleness on their faces and in their voices portrays that they know this particular “letting go” might be a bit more challenging than it is for many who watch their children leave for college or other new ventures in life at 18 or 19 years old. I do appreciate the sincere care and inquiries of friends, family, and acquaintances.
Nathan has never been better – he is on fire for Jesus, increasingly confident every time we speak with him that this is exactly what God has for him in this season, and his enthusiasm over our FaceTime calls is contagious! He is “in his element” more than he ever has been.
But my answer regarding concern for me is not what might be expected: I have never known any greater joy! Nathan was ready to fly from our nest in all ways, and it was time. I don’t miss him so much because I’m confident He is following Jesus. Isn’t that what we raised him to do? His love for the Lord is just what I have been praying for for nineteen-plus years.
Jesus himself left home, journeyed without much of a backpack or bedroll to spread his Gospel Message and the love of his Father. Nathan is on a Kingdom Journey (a highly recommended read by Adventures in Missions founder, Seth Barnes) full of the richness of adventure, new cultures and people, living in tight community, discovering more of just who God has made Nathan to be while spreading the Gospel and loving others in the name of Jesus.
So 1,786 miles doesn’t seem so far away in God’s sense of time and space and purpose. This life is but a vapor (James 4:14), and these young adults have a pretty good idea of how to spend it. Watching them, I am prompted to better “ATL” as they do each Monday. I want my own ask-the-Lord to be a continual daily, hourly conversation with my Father as I journey here at home seeking to know Him, experience Him, walk with Him, share His love in this new season of my own life. God never fails to reveal His love, answer my endless prayers, and show me the next steps – big and small – that He has for me.
This is a letting go I wouldn’t have any other way. Truly: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 1:4)
~Katie, Nathan’s mom
