I have dreams for my children.

I have high hopes for my children.

I want so many things for my children.

I want to give them the best that money can buy.

I want to be the best mother.

And I want everyone else to think I am, too.

And with all this wanting, have I yielded my children back to The One who gave them to me in the first place?

When the children were all very young, people used to ask me: "Are they all yours?"

I used to smile smugly and reply: "Oh, yes! They are all mine!"

I was wrong.

Actually, they are God's. I just have them on loan. For only a few years. And I had better get my own wants, hopes, dreams and narcisstic desires out of the way so that God can truly have them back.

Afterall, do I really want to create my children in my own image or do I want to let God shape them according to His plan for their lives?

It can only happen  if I, like Hannah of the Bible, am willing to return my child to God's service without any strings attached. Grateful only for the years He gave them to me, and understanding that they were always His to begin with.