As Kirsten gets closer to graduating high school, the song "Slipping Through My Fingers" plays in my head often. I suppose all parents, as they launch their children from high school to beyond feel this melancholy "where has the time gone" despair that can invade one's soul.
*"Slipping Through My Fingers"
Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile I watch her go with a surge of that well known sadness And I have to sit down for a while The feeling that I'm losing her forever And without really entering her world I'm glad whenever I can share her laughter That funny little girl*
Kirsten, with her friends Soy and Joy in 3rd grade - just a week or so after we moved to the Philippines in 2006
Kirsten with Soy and Joy after the recent music concert they all sang in
Slipping through my fingers all the time I try to capture every minute The feeling in it Slipping through my fingers all the time Do I really see what's in her mind Each time I think I'm close to knowing She keeps on growing Slipping through my fingers all the time... Then when she's gone, there's that odd melancholy feeling And a sense of guilt I can't deny What happened to the wonderful adventures The places I had planned for us to go Well, some of that we did, but most we didn't And why, I just don't know.....Slipping through my fingers all the time I try to capture every minute The feeling in it Slipping through my fingers all the time Do I really see what's in her mind Each time I think I'm close to knowing She keeps on growing Slipping through my fingers all the time[1]
So, I enjoy the moments with my children. I relish looking at photos. And I rest in my Abba's watchcare of each His children, commending each member of my family to God, our Abba, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build each of us up and to give each of us the inheritance among all those who are sanctified (Acts 20:32); knowing He who calls us is faithful (1 Thess. 5:24).
[1] Writer(s): Benny Goran Bror Andersson, Bjoern K. Ulvaeus Copyright: Union Songs Musikforlag AB