It wasn’t when he approached the stage. It wasn’t when I handed him his diploma. It wasn’t even when we embraced – although that was very touching. It was when he walked away. That’s when it hit me. He is “ready to ride the bike” and I need to “let go of the seat.”
When I dropped my oldest son, Brooks, off on his first day of pre-school, my feelings centered on trusting those who received him with loving arms. At his graduation, my feelings were more akin to the disciples being sent out.
He, like the disciples, has a strong loving foundation to go forth to do that which he is being called to do. While he is not going out with a partner, he has plenty of mentors and companions with whom he plans on sharing the journey. Maybe most importantly, he has a fairly strong sense of who he is and whose he is.
Will he crash on his bike? Will he enter some towns where those there will reject him? Absolutely! Yet, we go forth in faith, trusting that God’s grace will prevail and that the Holy Spirit will lead him, like the rest of us, to places and people that none of us ever imagined.