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Graduation invitations. Yearbooks. Senior photos. Open houses. All signs point to graduation season鈥攁 busy and joyful time. And while motherhood is an emotional endeavor all the time, for many moms, graduation ceremonies feel like a sacred threshold where the intensity of pride and joy walk hand in hand with letting go and releasing control. In the time it takes for your student to walk across the stage, a barrage of emotions rush in: joy, relief, pride, nostalgia, and a whole new set of worries, fears, and anxieties.

As a mom, you鈥檝e watched your child grow, struggle, stretch, succeed, fail, and begin to learn responsibility. You鈥檝e prayed over, cheered for, cried with, rejoiced with, and, at times, worried for your son or daughter. And now, the next chapter of life awaits. How can you walk faithfully through graduation season?

Philippians 1:3-11 provides a beautiful guide for all you are experiencing. Much like our desire as parents, Paul writes to his spiritual children to encourage them in their faith and toward maturity and perseverance. This passage presents a helpful movement for us as moms: Give thanks. Entrust. Keep praying.

Give Thanks

Philippians 1:3: 鈥淚 thank my God in all my remembrance of you鈥︹��

Throughout Scripture, God regularly invited His people to pause and remember. Sometimes it involved a sacrifice, a song, or a small tower of stones. These physical elements were meant to invite reflection on and recollection of the faithfulness, power, love, and mercy of God. The invitation to remember is an invitation to reorient our hearts toward what we know to be true about God and to let those truths change us from the inside out. Remembering is a powerful first step toward gratitude and trust.

That is why it is good and right to pause and remember during graduation season. It is sweet to picture the first steps, the toddler years, the picnics at the park, the skinned knees and sweaty heads, and the insatiable curiosity. It is a faithful practice to reflect on the steadfast love of the Lord through elementary school and the goodness of God through the changes of the middle school years. And while those tender moments may bring a lump to your throat and tears to your eyes, it also makes space for gratitude to overwhelm your heart. Graduation is a unique opportunity to remember years past and then give thanks. Give thanks for God鈥檚 protection, for His provision, His comfort, His guidance, His forgiveness, His sustaining power, His presence, and for all the other ways He has shepherded your child. Embrace graduation as a gift in which to consider, name, and express thanks to our loving Heavenly Father who loves our children more than we do. As you watch your child walk across the stage, let those 鈥渉appy-sad鈥� tears lead your heart to grateful remembrance of God鈥檚 steadfast love and faithfulness.

Entrust

Philippians 1:6: 鈥淎nd I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.鈥�

Graduation is a beautiful time to remember, but it is also an opportunity to trust the Lord with our children in a new way. Motherhood is one big exercise in trust from pregnancy to preteen, but launching your child into college or adulthood might feel different. This is why the movement of this passage is so helpful. We remember, give thanks, and then entrust our children to the Lord once again. Notice Paul鈥檚 confidence. He is sure, certain. But his certainty is not in the fact that he preached powerful sermons or made convincing arguments. His surety is in the character and commitment of Jesus to finish what He started.

As you reflect, you may lack confidence in your mothering. There might be words left unspoken, lessons left untaught, wounds left unhealed, or memories unmade. But none of those missed opportunities can stop Jesus from accomplishing His work in your child鈥檚 life! If your son is united to Christ, you can trust that Jesus is at work in him. If your daughter belongs to the Lord, you can rest assured that nothing will separate her from the love of Christ Jesus. You may not have the same opportunities for late night conversations or talks in the car, but Jesus will finish what He has started in your child. Your son or daughter will still make mistakes, sin, and struggle, but we need not fear. The God who saved your child is the God who will sanctify your child. You can entrust their lives into His good, faithful, and loving care.

Keep Praying

Philippians 1:9-11: 鈥淎nd it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.鈥�

There is no better demonstration of trust than prayer. Prayer is a way to demonstrate our dependence on the Lord and to daily entrust the lives of our children to God. You have likely already spent hours in prayer for your child鈥攚hen they were sick, when they got their feelings hurt, when they got their driver鈥檚 license, when they felt sad, and when you didn鈥檛 know how to help them. Even though your son is moving out of the house, or your daughter is moving across the country, your job has not changed. Keep praying. And let Paul鈥檚 prayer guide you. He does not pray for comfort, ease, money, success, or fame. Instead, he prays for abundant love, true wisdom, and the fruit of righteousness. These are the things that last and lead to true flourishing.

So, as the diploma is given, the pictures are taken, and big changes begin, do not lose heart. Instead, remember God鈥檚 faithfulness and give thanks, trust in God鈥檚 promises and continuing work, and keep praying!

This article was originally published on the .

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