Today the Apron Strings Were Cut

Today, my youngest child got his driver’s license. Today, the apron strings were cut. The joy that lit up his face when all of a sudden he realized that he was free. He could operate independently of the forces that had bound him to the apron strings for sixteen years. He could not be contained, no errand too small, the baby bird could test his wings.

In a first solo, celebratory outing, he asked his sister if she wanted to go to Peet’s Coffee, knowing that 99% of the time her answer would be “yes.”

It was, and they went. Freedom to make his own choices.

The Oxford dictionary defines FREEDOM as,

/ˈfrēdəm/ noun

The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

When I was a kid my dad brought home a Honda Odyssey. It was a single-seat four-wheel ATV produced between 1977 and 1989. To a 12 year old it was heaven. I remember the utter feeling of freedom when I would race around the track of our 5 acre walnut orchard. It was different than a bicycle, it had POWER. I remember, to this day, our elderly neighbor coming out, standing in the track and telling us to slow down. Slow down for what? I was free!

Freedom was the principle that our country was founded on, but with that freedom comes responsibility. You sign the unwritten contract that you will be responsible for your actions. Freedom doesn’t mean anarchy, freedom comes with a price.

Dr. Seuss sums it up rather well, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the (one) who'll decide where to go...” Dr. Seuss, The Places You’ll go.

For my son to be free, I have to let him go. For a mother that is life-changing. How do you let the baby bird jump out of the nest? It’s as if his freedom now makes me a slave to worry. The dreaded what ifs. Is he making the right choices? What if he needs me?Fly baby bird, fly! No crash helmet, no landing gear. His freedom will necessarily cause me to slip into a new chapter of my life. A responsibility has been lifted but a shift must take place. I must let him fail. That is the cost of his freedom.

Instead of carrying you around, I will be here to help pick you up when you fall. And you will fall. Once again from the good Old Dr. Seuss,

I’m so sorry to say so, but sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.”

“When I was a child, I spoke about childish matters, for I saw things like a child and reasoned like a child. But the day came when I matured, and I set aside my childish ways.” I Corinthians 13:11, TPT