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We recently celebrated the 21st birthday of our youngest child with family and friends. We, as her parents, have taken it as a “signing-off” from parenting. Of course, we will still be here for each of them as they need or want support and love, but we have deliberately decided to step back from that part of our lives and to investigate the next season of life for ourselves. So the party was something of a Closing Ceremony!
Nearly 30 years ago we dedicated our first child at our local church, and in that process dedicated ourselves to parenting. What wonderful words were spoken and what promises were made! By the grace of God we have made it this far and are delighted with our children and who they have become.
But during all of the preparation for this most recent party we were musing about how we often start out well (like a grand Opening Ceremony) but don’t always acknowledge or celebrate the end of a chapter – so we dubbed the recent party the Closing Ceremony! For our child being celebrated, it was a doorway to her next chapter and to us it was an acknowledgement of the seasons we have been through to get to this point. Having lots of photos to share helped to re-ignite old memories with the significant others who came along to celebrate with us.
I guess there are times when we say good-bye to a season of life, like at a funeral or when leaving a job or even when moving house. Such times can bring a range of emotions including grief and regrets or it can bring a sense of satisfaction of a job well done.
Our Closing Ceremony was a wonderful mix of looking back and looking forward, spent with people who have walked some of the journey with us, and we were able to give thanks.
Blessings.