The Tool Box

I can hear my husband clanging tools around in the garage. He's going through his twenty-four year collection and putting together a tool box for our twenty-two year old son. 

Gulp.

When did we become parents of an adult who is able to move out and live on his own?

He's coming home tomorrow to collect the furniture he's chosen from our house and some other things. He's been gone for a few years but has always come home for summer and holidays.

This time it's permanent.

There won't be any more summers at home. I won't have to tiptoe around while he's still sleeping. I won't have to chase him out of the shower because he's been in there for a very long time. I won't have to buy Cooper cheese or boxes of Macaroni & Cheese anymore. 

The tool box Wayne is putting together for him will last him many years. He'll hang pictures, tighten bolts, and fix small accidents with it. It'll stay by his side as he begins new chapters in his life. He'll learn how to use each one and will remember his dad using them, but the most important tools for life aren't found in a box. They're found in the Bible and that is what will get him through all of the hard times in life. We may not have taught him what every screwdriver and wrench is for but we made sure to teach him the way of the Lord. 

Mommies and Daddies: Don't give up. You're doing the most important job in the world. There are days that make you want to buy a plane ticket to Aloneville but hang in there. Your sacrifices are worth it. There will be time later to do the things you want to do, now is not the time to be selfish. Your little people need you more than the grown-ups in your life do (this is not including your spouse -- they need to be the most important person in your world!). The committee will still be there in twenty years. The church work will still be there in twenty years. Use this time wisely. For soon you'll be watching as they pull out of the driveway loaded down with furniture and the tools you've given them.