Stephanie's First Day of Kindergarten

The day that I never thought would come finally arrived. I sent my oldest daughter to kindergarten on Monday. I cannot believe that time has flown by so quickly. I remember all the times people told me to savor every moment because they grow up so fast. I always thought to myself that I just couldn't wait to get to the point that they weren't under my feet all the time. Well I now understand all those words of wisdom. Stephanie was very excited about her first day of kindergarten. We woke her up and had her fed and dressed without any issues. We had decided that we would take her to school the first day and then let her ride the bus from then on. So, the four of us piled into the car and headed off. We got there and all was well. As we were hugging and kissing her goodbye, she started to cry(I am pretty sure that this was instigated by another little girl in the class who was already crying). Anyway, I took one look at my precious baby crying and I couldn't stop the tears. I decided that it was best at that point for me to kiss her and make my exit so as to to create anymore of a scene. So, I left her tender hearted, sensitive daddy to settle her in....For those of you who know Chris, you know that he is very tender and has a very special bond with Stephanie. He remained composed despite the tears that proceeded down his cheeks. We finally made our exit and all was well until we got in the car. It was at that point that I let the tears come. All Katie could say all morning was mommy don' cry anymore. I am happy that my little girl is growing up. It is just that all of a sudden I realized that she was no longer going to be under my watchful eye all the time. There was going to be someone else influencing her and others around her. I was no longer going to be able to steer her away from activities or conversations that I may deem inappropriate. I could no longer control what she said to others, the tone she used or whether or not she was being polite. So the lingering question was, 'Have I taught her what she needs to know up until this point?' Will she represent Christ? I know that she has not accepted Christ into her life yet, but would she remember to be a light for Jesus in the way that she knows how at this point? All of these questions ran thru my head and the only thing that I could do was to turn her over to GOd. I have always prayed for her safety and her salvation, but now I find myself lifting her up to Him many times a day. I think that yet again God is teaching me that I must do His will and teach my children His word and He will direct not only my path, but theirs as well. So, we are going on day #4 tomorrow and I believe that we will survive this difficult journey just as we have every other journey up until this point, but we must stay on our knees.