It was bedtime. I went in to check on my two boys, ages five and six. Both were sleeping soundly. As I turned to leave the room, my eyes caught a sheet of paper my six year old was clasping. I looked closer and saw it was the piece of paper where he had written his dad’s phone number.
“This is where I’ll be, Robbie,” his dad assured him before leaving on a business trip. “Call me if you need me.”
The next morning, on the way to school, I saw Robbie fingering that paper nervously. “Why are you holding that number, Robbie?” I asked.
“It makes me feel better.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I know no matter what happens, if I can just get to my dad, everything will be all right.”
His words brought a lump to my throat. His words echoed in my mind all day. “If I can just get to my dad…”
His dad—the head of the family, his refuge, his hiding place—the heart through which he will learn his identity. How does a child develop that kind of confidence and assurance? It comes from relationship.
As the boys matured, they encountered many changes in their lives. They moved, changed schools, lost friends, and made new ones. They prayed for Grandpa in the hospital and trusted God for the money to fix unexpected problems in a house that we bought.
Through all the turns in the road, their world remained solid because the leader in their home was solid. They always felt his umbrella of protection over their mother and over them, even during times of change.
When my husband was in Belgium for a business trip, our son Robbie tried calling, but forgot about the time change. Fighting back tears, he said, “The hotel said it’s two in the morning. They won’t put the call through.” With a deep breath and trembling lips, Robbie walked silently into his room.
I did what I knew my husband would have wanted. I called Belgium.
“Bob,” I said to my husband, “I’m sorry to wake you.” Immediately he answered, “Don’t be sorry, honey. Is something wrong?” Before long, Bob was talking to our son.
When Robbie got off the phone, he said, “Daddy said I can call him anytime. He said not to worry about waking him. Whenever I need him or miss him, I can just call him.”
Robbie walked away from that telephone with his shoulders held high. Once again, the message was clear: he was important to his dad.
I was reminded of Psalm 121:3, “He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber.” I was grateful that God had given Robbie an earthly father to teach him how to one day learn to trust in his heavenly Father.
So much can happen in life. My husband knew that as much as he wanted to be there, a day would come when his time with the boys would be over. That’s why he gave his children the best gift he could, a foundation of trust where they would learn to trust in a heavenly Father. Only He could walk with them into the rest of their lives. And when the time came, his boys would turn to their heavenly Father and say as they do now, “If I can just get to my dad, then everything will be all right.” Today, my sons are now 29 and 30, and have grown up to be solid and dependable just like their dad.
Our children are entrusted to us for a season. When the time comes for them to leave the nest, can you trust their future to your heavenly Father? The God who carried you to this day is the same God who will walk with your children. He is faithful from generation to generation.
