The Balance of Freedom
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Life’s a little different for us these days, my husband and
I have realized. Changes are happening faster than we’d like.
Making plans with friends is in some ways much easier—no
babysitter needed. (Can I get a Hallelujah?!)
But in some ways, getting together with other couples is
much, much harder. Sometimes our kids need us on the weekends. And sometimes
our weeknights feel so busy that we just need to be home on Friday night.
Life with teenagers is a fine balance between being
available and not, being accessible and letting them figure it out, being
around and living our own lives. We’re still primarily parents . . . with a
little more freedom.
Freedom to go out with friends. Freedom to work. Freedom to take off for the weekend occasionally.
And yet, we’re still primarily parents.
I feel that tug. I feel the pull toward freedom. And yet,
responsibility beckons. I’m still needed here. I’m still Mom to three
independent, yes, but needy still, teenagers.
One of the wonderful pleasures of having daughters is
helping them maneuver the highs and lows of womanhood. And don’t we know that
the highs are pretty high and the lows are pretty low? It’s a rollercoaster, no
matter how you look at it.
Recently I found myself with the absolute pleasure of having
a few hours alone with Kate. She was home on Fall Break, and neither of us
wanted to do the work we needed to be doing, so we decided to go shopping. (Another
of the great benefits of having daughters!)
On our way to the mall, we talked of the future, of what
it’s like to be a woman—an intelligent woman with a bit of ambition. Some of
Kate’s friends don’t get it. Why would she even consider law school? What if she met someone and wanted to get
married? What if she wanted to have kids? These questions bothered my daughter,
just as they bothered me many years ago when I was in graduate school.
Who says you can’t be a mother AND a lawyer? Who says she
has to choose? Besides, she’s still young and still exploring her options.
But she has options, and that, in my opinion, is a good
thing.
We talked about vocation and priorities, and I hope I drove
home a point or two from my own experience. No matter what you choose—to work
or to stay home with your family—you family is your first priority. It has to
be.
I pointed out that even her dad has made that choice. Even
though he has a demanding career, and even though he has to be away from us
early in the morning and sometimes late at night, those of us who live within
these four walls know without a doubt that we are his first priority.
God gives us choices. God gives us abilities. God gives us
these good, good lives to live. And yet, within the freedom of these lives, we
have to choose to honor Him by making our family our first priority.
It’s a balancing act, and sometimes we fall off the
tightrope. I know I have. I know I’ve missed a concert or two and later wished
I had not made the choices I had made. But we get back on the rope and we try
again.
Balance.
Balance.
Balance.
