Last week I attended a sweet little ‘Kindergarten Round-Up’ at my son’s school. The purpose was for all the kindergarten students to get excited for school in a relaxed environment. They all met their new teachers, got to see some old friends from their pre-K years, and got to spend an hour running wild on their new school playground. It was a really nice experience, not just for the kids, but for the parents, too. That is until I opened up my kid’s goodie bag and inside was a shirt bearing a short, but powerful note… Class of 2038.

I’m sorry, I just hallucinated. What?!

Oof. Nothing can give you a punch in the gut like realizing your child will be graduating high school in the year of our Lord TWO THOUSAND THIRTY-EIGHT. In 2038, I will be 48 years old. Is that too old to have a child graduate from high school? Let’s not even mention that this is my first-born child. Which means I’ll be even older when my subsequent children graduate. Eeek!

Seriously, though. I’m not that concerned with how old I’ll be when he reaches graduation. What does go through my mind, and is much more concerning, is what kind of world will he be in as he’s entering adulthood 13 years from now? Because you’d be hard pressed to find someone who, 13 years ago, could have seen what sort of world we’d be living in today and what sort of cultural challenges children would end up facing. That t-shirt brought me a lot of anxiety about what’s to come.

He’s so little now, but he’s grown so big in just 5 short years from the slimy 7-pound, 13-ounce angel that was laid on my chest. The world was a lot different even just 5 years ago! And before I know it, he will begin to smell, and grow hair in every place, and force me to buy multiple gallons of milk per week. Right before my eyes he’ll become a big, grown man.

But my biggest prayer would be that he becomes a grown and good man. A man who loves the Lord with his whole heart. A man who seeks to stand out from his peers by living a life that honors his heavenly Father. A man who understands what a blessing it is to be a husband and a father, who will work hard with calloused hands, but who uses those same hands to gently wipe away tears from weary toddlers and his weary wife. A man who knows that good men are necessary in a fallen world. Oh, how the world needs more good men.

The journey for him to become this good man began when he was born. And it begins next week at school, too. He’s not just beginning his education to learn to read and write and all the rest that, yes, matters. But what he learns about God, what he learns about himself and his peers, how he feels about his family… all of this will shape the man he’s destined to become. It’s so incredibly weighty, this responsibility of parenthood. It definitely comes with anxiety, but wow… what a gift it is.

I’ll have to remember to take this next year slowly, to really soak up the littleness while it still remains. I’m not the first mother to face all of this weight, and I will most certainly not be the last. Kindergarten is a first big major step. The first of many. I’m honored for the responsibility and grateful for a God that promises to never leave our side.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Written by: Chelsae Baxley, Assistant Director, Fathom Family Foundation