Few parents will forget that first day they left their little one at nursery or school, or let go when the child was learning to ride a bicycle. Worse yet, watching their teenager drive off in the car (your car!) alone for the first time.
Firsts like these can be a steep learning curve for parents, never mind the children. We all want our children to be safe and happy, but over-protecting and stifling them isn’t the answer. My husband and I found that the more we were able to see God as the real caregiver of our two children, the happier and safer we all were. Even before our children arrived, we tried to understand that any children we might have were God’s children first. He is their Father-Mother. In her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes, “God is the parent Mind, and man is God’s spiritual offspring” (p. 336). We are all His children.
Knowing God as the Father and Mother of all has been the foundation for our family. My husband and I always reasoned that as parents we were here to express the qualities of God’s fatherhood and motherhood in ways our children could understand and feel as we all grew. Our love and care for them were expressions of God’s love for them. We tried to help our son and daughter understand that God is always with them, caring for them and keeping them safe, even when we weren’t with them.
