Encouraging You When Your Children Leave the Nest - Thankfully, God Stays

Letting go of our children as they embark on their own journeys might be one of life's most bittersweet transitions. 

Whether they're heading to college, moving into their first apartment, or joining the military, that moment of watching them step forward independently stirs a complex emotional mix of pride, grief, fear, and perhaps even a profound sense of loss.

Ache comes with change - especially the disorienting quiet that follows years of beautiful chaos. 

Your feelings don't make you weak; they make you human. And it's in that very humanness where divine compassion meets us.

The transition you're experiencing isn't just an ending; it's making space for something new. 

Isaiah 43:19's promise reminds us that God is "doing a new thing" and "making a way in the wilderness." The prayers you've whispered, the values you've instilled, and the faithful examples you've set haven't disappeared - they've become the foundation supporting your child as they build their independent life. 

God walks before them in ways even your deepest parental love cannot.

This season may offer unexpected gifts amid the challenges - a chance for rediscovery, new rhythms, and fresh purpose. Your identity has never been limited to your parenting role, though that role has profoundly shaped you. Now, as the shape of your days changes, God invites you into new expressions of your calling and purpose.

If you're struggling with this transition, we'd love to continue walking alongside you. Share this podcast with other parents in similar seasons, and connect with us at WPER, Virginia's Home for Encouragement, for daily inspiration that meets you right where you are.

Let us know what you think - send us a text here!!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Glad you found us.
This is it.
You're encouraging five-minutepodcast over the next few
minutes going to encourage you,try to lift your day, inspire
you in some way and if you needmore encouragement by the end of
the five-minute podcast orafter, you can always listen to
Virginia's Home forEncouragement WPER.
If you're out of that Virginiaarea and you want to listen

(00:23):
anytime, you can download theapp.
Just search WPER.
If you're out of that Virginiaarea and you want to listen
anytime, you can download theapp.
Just search WPER.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
So if you're in a season of transition, especially
one that's either unfamiliar orjust plain hard, you are not
alone.
So whether your kids areleaving for college, moving into
their own place, headed tobasic training or just stepping
into a whole new chapter, wewant you to know God sees you
right where you are.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
And let them go out on their own.
Hey, that's not easy.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm in that stage of my life right now.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Wow, wow, wow, especially when the ones that
we're letting go of are thepeople who are a part of you.
It does.
It makes it the ones we'veprayed for, poured into, watch
grow up.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Oh, that's so hard, and whether it's your first time
sending a child off or the lastone leaving the nest, this
moment can really stir up a tonof emotions, like all of them
right Pride, grief, fear, maybeeven a sense of loss.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
No, and that's okay.
I mean, you're allowed to feelthe ache of this change, no
matter what you're feeling.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
And what you're feeling doesn't make you weak,
it makes you human, and it'sthat very humanness, where God
meets us with his compassion andhis love.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
You know, in the Bible, in Ecclesiastes, chapter
three, verse one, it saysthere's a time for everything, a
season for every activity underthe heavens, and this
particular season that you're inmay feel uncomfortable,
unfamiliar or even lonely, butit's just a season, not the end
of the story.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
No, because transitions are God's way of
making space for something new.
Now, that does not mean thattransitions are painless, but it
does mean that it's allpurposeful.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
And maybe you're wondering I know I have.
Who am I now that my childdoesn't need?

Speaker 2 (02:00):
me as much.
Yes.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Or how will relationships change?
Or even, what do I do with allthis?

Speaker 2 (02:06):
quiet, right?
Well, god hears your questions,but he doesn't leave you all of
this in the unknown.
He doesn't leave you in theunknown.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Let me go back to the Bible, in Isaiah 43, 19, where
he says see, I'm doing a newthing, now it springs up, do you
not sense it?
Doing a new thing, now itsprings up, do you not sense it?
I'm making a way in thewilderness, in the quiet and
streams in the wasteland Yep.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
That's his promise.
Even in the hard, in theunfamiliar, in the silence, he
is making a way.
He's speaking into yourwilderness, into your unknown.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
The transition may honestly be one of the most
challenging seasons of your life, Not because you're doing
something wrong, but becauseletting go of someone you love
so deeply, that's hard oh.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
I can't.
We're not there yet.
I don't want to imagine.
But here's one thing you canhold on to in all the hard that
the same God who walked youthrough all of those sleepless
newborn nights and all thosescience projects right, all the
scrape knees, all the collegeapplications, all the what's
next, he is still with you now.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
And he is with your child in this transition too.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
Oh yeah, the prayers you've whispered over them as
they slept, those are the seedsof the faith that you've planted
in small little everydaymoments.
Those things matter, and knowthat all of that goes with your
children.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Here's the best part God goes ahead of your children,
no matter what next step thatthey are taking.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
It's okay to grieve this change.
You know to walk past theirempty room and feel that lump in
your throat.
But remember, look for God andhis grace in this shift.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
You know, it could also be a time for rediscovery
for you, a time to remember thatyou are still deeply loved,
still called, still needed, evenas the shape of the days begin
to change.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
Let God use this season to breathe new life into
you.
It's not just a new adventurefor your children.
This is new, an adventure foryou too New dreams, new rhythms,
new joys.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
And in those quiet moments and yeah, they're very
quiet we're trying to encourageyou.
In those quiet moments, youknow, when the ache creeps in,
lean into this truth God has notchanged, never will.
He's still faithful.
He will carry you, just like hecarries your children.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
Oh, man, that's a good thing to remember.
Let me just pray a blessingover you right now.
Lord, help this one to feelyour presence in the stillness,
fill their heart with your peace, guard their heart when fear
knocks.
Lord, help them to releasetheir children into your mighty
hands with confidence, knowingthat your love is even greater

(04:44):
than their love for theirchildren.
And, lord, please walk withthem into this next chapter.
Walk with them and give themgrace.
And Lord, please walk with theminto this next chapter.
Walk with them and give themgrace, strength and hope.
Help them to see that the bestis not behind them.
Help them to see that you haveso much more for them, and it's
in your precious name we pray.
Amen.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Thank you for sharing these minutes with us.
Whatever this season looks likefor you, hold on to the truth
that God goes before you, walksbeside you and carries you when
you need it most.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
And also for your children, yes, and your children
.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
His grace will meet us, you, your children, us, all
of us, right where we are.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Thank you so much for letting us hang out with you
for a few minutes.
If you've gotten someencouragement from this today,
thank you for listening.
If you know somebody that coulduse a little encouragement in a
big transition, send this tothem.
If you know somebody that coulduse a little encouragement in a
big transition, send this tothem.
But if you'd like some moreencouragement, like on a daily
basis, tune in to WPER,virginia's Home for
Encouragement and, if you'd liketo, you can listen online at
WPERorg and you can head theretoo to also safely download the

(05:48):
WPER app.