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Oct 05, 2025 06:00am

When Letting Go Hurts: A Mom’s Journey of Faith at Move-In Day

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Today, I left a big piece of my heart at the University of Missouri-Columbia: my firstborn.

We helped my daughter move in, set up her dorm, find her new parking spot, and get her books. Everything to help her (really, me) feel better about the next step of college life.

We laughed. We cried. We prayed. We cried some more. And we left our baby girl to begin the next chapter of her life as a Tiger.

We let go and let God take over.

Funny…He’s been preparing me for this moment her whole life.

Like when I was pregnant with her and was so sick my entire pregnancy. I learned quickly this was something I couldn’t control. I learned to lean upon God to see me through every sick bout and ER visit.

It was then that God was teaching me that while I can’t control everything, good things were still happening! My baby girl was growing healthy and strong.

When my baby girl finally came into this world, she was a mere six pounds—and beautiful! She was a delight in the hospital . . . and then we took her home. This precious baby girl screamed for hours on end. Then, the hours grew to days and the days grew to weeks. I realized that I had given birth to a very colicky baby. (They didn’t teach you this in all those parenting books.)

It was then God taught me to let go of how I pictured motherhood would be and to invite Him for help, strength, and patience during those long bouts of crying.

When my girl was a toddler, I bought the cutest, biggest bows I could find and clipped them in her hair as often as I could. Then came the day when she was 18 months old and decided she wasn’t going to wear those bows anymore. From that day on, she fought me on bows and outfits. (I can still picture our standoff in her room as she stood her ground, arms crossed. Again, those parenting books didn’t prepare me for this at such a young age.)

It was then God taught me compromise wasn’t such a bad thing!

When my first grader came home from school and asked me, “Mommy, what’s sex?” it was then I realized I couldn’t control what others said to my girl! It was then that God taught me to be proactive with my girl, preparing her for another “education” at school.

When my girl struggled with reading, it was then God taught us both that hard work and perseverance are gifts that will pay off tremendously in school and life.

When my girl’s heart was broken by boys, it was then God taught her what to look for in a guy . . . and what to avoid. It was then He started to solder those cracks together and grow her heart stronger for Him.

When my girl suffered injury after injury taking her out of two sports she loved, it was then God taught her that her true identity lies in Him and not a sport. He would give her the strength to endure . . . and overcome. And somewhere in the process of trusting Him, He would show her His purpose for her life.

And when my girl got a crazy high ACT score (ironically, in reading) that got her the composite score she needed to go to her dream college, it was then God confirmed what He had been teaching her all along: with Him, all things are possible. With Him, she was good enough. And with Him, she would discover the plans He had for her at this university.

Throughout my girl’s life, God has been preparing us for days like today: when I have to take her to a college four hours away . . . and leave her.

As we drove away (after all the tears and hugs), I had complete peace. He’s got this—He always has. It just took me 18 years of small daily decisions to trust God with the hard stuff of life. And over those 18 years, He has allowed me to experience His faithfulness every step of the way.

It’s what love does when we are willing to let go and let God take over.