Every day that I wave to my kids as they leave the house for school, I don’t even think about the requisite faith I must have that the world will help me hold them. As they get older and are more and more on their own, I have to trust their teachers to help mold them. Neighbors to keep an eye out, strangers to not put them I harms way, drivers to obey the law and keep their cars safely on the road. Mostly, I have faith in them to make good choices and show up with the values we have attempted to imbue in them. Every evening that they return to us after they navigate the simple complexities of their teenage lives. We welcome them home to homework and practicing their instruments and playing and social media. We exhale, and quickly forget the faith in abundance, or luck, that got us through the day.
Sure, sometimes we are let down. In small ways or even large ones. A bike gets stolen, our kid does something unkind, someone gets hurt. I find myself getting stuck in those moments and losing sight of the incredible amount of what goes right every day keeping our kids growing, safe and strong. Remembering the blind faith that is required to wave my kids off in the morning and release them into the world, and remembering to let go of trying to make it all right, is the ultimate act of trust.
Judy Appel
