Tender Hearted as Kids Leave for College 

Day 48-Year 3

Team Zybko

August 15, 2014

My heart has been super tender for my friends dropping off their babies at college for the first time, or even the second, third or fourth time. Hang in there, it's tough but we can be brave, right? Yes, we can do it! I write from a mommas point of view yet I realize this transition isn't easy on Dads and siblings left behind either. 

The first time you send your 'Baby' off to college is a big deal. The heart knows this, it responds and hurts in a big way. No matter what kind of extensive preparation, it's quite impossible to protect yourself against the fragile emotions of the season. Just the way it goes. You see a mommas love grows exponentially from before day one and gets bigger with each savory, priceless memory made. 

A parents heart has a unique way of soaking up the special moments spent together, like a huge over sized kitchen sponge that never ever squeezes out the good times shared. Loading up on love, joy, happiness and pride til your heart threatens to explode right out of your chest. On occasion, with no warning at all, drops of your heart can in fact leak out, rolling down smoothly against your gently worn soccer mom cheeks. 

 No worries, the storage capacity for Kodak moments gets bigger and bigger as the candles blown out become more and more crowded on each passing birthday cake. From your babies first steps to those same feet of your teenager stepping across the stage at their High School Graduation and a gazillion other post worthy events in between. All of them get crammed in there, limitless amount of room in a mommas heart, no extra fee, 24/7 available access. 

It's hard to believe how time flies by, almost 2 decades whirl and whiz past you quicker than your brain can comprehend. The times they drove you crazy, the times they dabbled in breaking the rules, the times they left messy rooms, the times hormonal episodes seemed to hard to handle, the times they declared, why not? Everyone else is doing it. Those times don't seem to matter. Those times easily find an escape route right out of this metaphoric childhood heart sponge. Drip, drip, drip. No room for that stuff. Nope, no way. That nonsense doesn't seem to even make a blip on the radar as you cram the family SUV full of dorm room goodies as if Bed Bath and Beyond exploded in the backseat. 

Driving the last few miles to the exit determined by the dash board GPS may wind up being the hardest. Turning, you strain your neck, looking past the mounds of necessary Freshman gear to steal one more glance of your growed up kid. There, sitting right next to the multi colored floor lamp from Target sits your child, peering out of the window, looking excited and maybe a little nervous as they too are entering a new season.

 It's crazy to explain but time has a funny way of acting like a finicky rubber band, stretching, pulling and releasing with no sense of control or explanation. Wasn't I.....I mean seriously.....I'm pretty sure.... just a second ago I was happily waiting in an Elementary School car line, anxious to hear how the first day of 5K went. Yes, I am sure of it, just yesterday for sure. 

A small gift falls into your lap, at this moment time graciously stands still allowing your eyes to fill up with last minute emotions. Soaking up just a few more precious seconds to carry back with you on the quiet return trip home. Not leaving you empty handed, only slightly wounded as you mournfully realize the dynamics of your life and home will never be the same. 

Now back on the road, headed in the opposite direction of your students new temporary home you desperately look around for it. In your purse, on the floor board, on the dash, you turn the front seat upside down but can not find it. It's gone. Your heart is no where to be found. After a few long minutes you suddenly remember where you left it. A now tiny dot in the rear view mirror. Your momma heart, full and content is walking carefree down the side walk, venturing into the world carrying the last of the plastic bins marked COLLEGE. 

Father God, you are wonderful and caring, your love endures forever. Thank you for these children, all the memories shared and for the unique design of a mommas heart to hold them all. 
I ask you Lord, as your eyes roam around the earth that you stop and pause over all campuses and homes of college students everywhere. Let them know with out a doubt they are loved. Guide them Lord in the right direction, give them the wisdom to make good choices, the rest needed to study and the desire to know you better. In Jesus' sweet and precious name. Amen