Fourteen years ago, we were packing our small house in Pekin and preparing moving to Chicago. Libby was just weeks away from her first birthday, pulling up on furniture and taking her first steps. This morning, Libby will take her first steps as a high school student at PCHS. My precious little baby is now in the ninth grade, about to turn 15 and asking when she can get her driver’s permit. How is it that life passes by so quickly?

I love to be in control, I love to be in charge. I’ve always been this way and there are times when God has been able to use this leadership tendency for His own good and times when He has had to show me that He is in charge and I am not. My girls are growing up and there is nothing I can do to keep them young forever (or keep myself young forever, can I get an Amen?!).

Registering Libby for high school has not gone smoothly. School starts in just 90 minutes and we still don’t have her schedule in place, her locker, her bus pass, her p.e. clothes – none of that. Yesterday as the school was working on finalizing her schedule, they called to say that Spanish was full and would she like to take French or Latin. What?!! The plan was for Libby to take Spanish for four years. I panicked. Within minutes I could feel the peace of God coming over me. Who am I to say that it isn’t God’s plan for Libby to be fluent in French? I relaxed and let go of what I was trying to control, allowing God His place as Lord in my life and in Libby’s.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had the right attitude, as we discussed yesterday. Life will be much easier for this control freak if I can just learn how to say – “But even if He doesn’t…” (Daniel 3:18). Daily I have to let go of the reins and trust that God reigns. I must let go of my need to manipulate and control a situation and let Him be Lord saying – I know that the God I serve is able to save and rescue me by His power but, even if He doesn’t, I will never serve anyone but Him. I will trust Him.

King Nebuchadnezzar had to learn a similar lesson. His attitude was revealed in this sentence as he looked out across the city: “Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.”

While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you! You are no longer ruler of this kingdom. You will be driven from human society. You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.” – Daniel 4:30-32

Now the king reigning over God’s people who were in exile for 70 years was experiencing his own exile of 7 years. When his sanity returned and he was given back the throne, his attitude had changed. “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.” – Daniel 4:37. He had learned the hard way that God was in control and he was not, a lesson I have had to daily learn from my Savior and Lord.

For the last few years, we have been praying for a precious little guy named Matthew. Matthew was diagnosed with Down Syndrome before he was born but he was perfect in so many ways. His smile and the joy he brought into the lives of those around him were priceless. Yesterday, Matthew lost his battle with leukemia and all of us who had been praying for Matthew’s healing had to face the reality that God had a different plan.

These are the times when it is the most difficult to say – My God is able, but even if He doesn’t… Matthew’s death puts a new perspective on what seemed like such a big deal to me yesterday. How can I complain to God about the details of Libby’s school registration while a young mother named Jessica prepares for her precious son’s funeral?

The other day after getting off the phone with the school I cried out my frustrations to God. “You moved us here; you are supposed to be working out all the details!” Immediately Romans 8:28 came to my mind and a peace washed over me. I need that peace again this morning and I hope God is able to use it in your life – for whatever situation you are facing that needs you to let go of the reins and let God reign.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. – Romans 8:28

(Please remember the parents, family and friends of Matthew in your prayers.)