5 Friday Favorites: August 16, 2024

It's time for my Friday link up with  A Little Bit of Everything and Momfessionals. 

On Fridays I share things that made me happy from the week - a photo, a song, a quote, a beauty product, a recipe, a pair of cute shoes, etc. If it's a product, sometimes it's something I actually own and sometimes something I just saw online that gave me a smile. Sometimes it's serious and sometimes it's silly. I suppose I believe that God is in the simple details of life and yes, I can even find Him in a tube of lipstick.

Hello, Friday! Hope everyone has had a great week. I gotta hustle today so here are my favorite things from the week!

1. The Greatest Night in Pop

A friend told me to watch this a long time ago and I just got to it last week. I smiled the ENTIRE time I watched. If you were a child/teen in the 80s you remember what a big deal the We are the World song was, but looking back on it now, you'll be even more blown away that they were able to pull it off. The fact that they got all of those egos in one room to record this amazing song in one night without cell phones or emails or GPS or anything else is remarkable. I loved this documentary so much. Also, Bruce Springsteen looks like a baby.  You will not believe it.

2. Tyler Diva Hand Soap

I've been a sucker for the Tyler Glamorous Wash Diva Detergent for awhile and now look what my sister found!!! The same scent in a hand soap. This is an automatic add to cart for me. I can't wait to get it.

3. A Few (VERY FEW) Things for the College Boy

Drew leaves for school in two days. He's moving into an on-campus apartment with three other baseball players. I've been asking him for weeks what he needs to bring. He kept saying, "I'll figure it out." which essentially means the same thing as "Stop talking to me because I need to get back to playing NCAA Football on my Playstation LIKE IT'S MY JOB."

So I texted with one of his best buddy/teammate's moms, Keri, to see if she had any info on what the on-campus apartments for the athletes provided. 

This is the combined info that Keri and I have received from our two college boys. They need "maybe like two dishes and two cups." 

So Keri, being obviously way over the top asks, "What about a new shower curtain?"

To which her son replies, "Nah. I think there already is one."

Girl Moms, God bless you with your wall art and twinkle lights and throw pillows and Keurigs and Stanley cups and fancy brand new non-mildewed shower curtains. All I keep reminding myself is that there is a Wal-Mart and a Target near the campus. The kid has a credit card and a car. Why do I even care? 

Alas, we did buy a few things. Literally, A FEW.

He did say he needed some very fancy new school clothes for the year. So we went to Amazon and got him a two pack of these Men's Athletic Shorts 5 inch Quick Dry Gym Workout Shorts Men Lightweight Sports Running Shorts with pockets. (Why so many words, Amazon?) 

Anyway, shorts can be a little tricky for a baseball catcher who squats for hours at a time and spends all his time in the gym because let's just say "Baby got back" plus some pretty big thighs. These fit him well, they come in lots of color combinations and they are a whopping 17% off today.

While the girl moms are out there buying cute bathroom caddies and fun monogrammed towel sets, we purchased this four pack of body wash. It was thrilling.

Did he order any shirts? No. Any toothpaste? No. Socks? Nope. He did, however, order not one, but two, of these headbands. It's important to be prepared.

So obviously, we're all good, right? By this time next week, he'll be in his apartment in his new shorts and headband, drinking out of his one cup and eating off of his one plate. He'll smell good due to the body wash, but will the bathroom be a mess due to the lack of a shower curtain? Will he eat with his hands? Will he be wearing a shirt? I have no idea. Not my business.

4. A T-shirt for $8.50 from Target

When I was at Target shopping for the two dishes and two cups for Drew's apartment, I grabbed this Wild Fable short sleeved ribbed baby tshirt. I think the word "baby tee" in the title sufficiently alerts you that this is a little bitty cropped shirt which I had to size up in and will not wear alone because a cropped shirt is a young woman's game. 

Just my opinion. Crop away, if you like. Nobody puts Baby in a corner, of course. 

Anyway, these tees are really soft and fit well. I think they'll be great under flannel button downs, sweaters, rompers and overalls in the fall.

5. Trust Steadily, Hope Unswervingly, Love Extravagantly

As I mentioned, Drew goes back to college this weekend for his sophomore year. While I won't say I haven't been emotional about it, I will say that the emotions are very different than in past years. I haven't been too obsessive about all the normal things we stereotypically mention when we reach a milestone. You know the drill: Where has the time gone? How could this baby be almost 20 years old? Wasn't he just going to Kindergarten five minutes ago? I wonder if I should buy that $100 jar of moisturizer due to the crater-like wrinkle on my left temple that showed up overnight? (Actually, I am thinking about that one.) 

I suppose it should be easier, as this is the tenth time Steve and I will move a kid on to a college campus. There are some things I know now. I know not to get caught up in the 75 Dorm Essentials list that I've seen on the internet because Amazon Prime is a thing. I know that I actually will be able to talk to him as much as I want because texting, face-timing, emailing, snapchatting, and Instagram messaging are a thing. I know that the initial walk away from the dorm/apartment will coincide with a massive lump in my throat because that's definitely a thing. I know that this year as with last, I can't call my mom when that lump turns into a massive sob. I know I have to wait at least a month before I can listen to the songs, Landslide or Thought You Should Know or Time in a Bottle. 

But there are still things that are uncertain and those things never change. And there is not an "experienced" mom on the planet who can assure you that everything you want for your kid will work out. I dropped off three different boys for freshman year and you know what I didn't ever know any of those times? 

I didn't know if they would find their people like they had in high school. I didn't know the school each kid chose would be the right fit for them. I didn't know if they'd pass all their classes. I didn't know if they'd find a passion to turn into a career. I didn't know if they'd change their major a bunch of times. I didn't know if they'd figure out how to take care of themselves if they got sick. I didn't know if they'd drink too much or do drugs or get thrown in jail. I didn't know if they'd be homesick. I didn't know if they'd get a spot on the team or in the frat or in the club. 

And to be honest, even when you take them back for the 2nd or 3rd or 4th year? You still don't know all those things for certain. 

Uncertainty breeds a whole lot of anxiety. Even though this isn't my first rodeo there are still uncertainties. But for some reason as I sit to write about this this morning, the overwhelming emotion I am feeling is a deep sense of relief. 

Everytime I took a kid to college, from the first time I took Joe in 2017 to when I took Kyle in 2019 to when I took Drew last year, that sense of relief always came at some point. Sometimes it would come about two hours into the ride home. Sometimes the next day. Sometimes it would take a few weeks. But it would come. 

And the way this sense of relief, of comfort, of protection and of calm would finally see its way to settle into my bones was not because I knew all the things - not because I knew he received a bid to the fraternity he wanted or because he was getting along with his roommate or because his classes were going well. 

The only thing that gave me that true feeling of relief was this one thing: It was in the moment that I would finally remind myself that God was in control of their lives, not me. It only came when I unclenched my fists and reliquished my (delusional) control of each of these knuckleheads' lives. . . when I remembered to stop thinking I had to know every detail of his day, hear all his thoughts and fears, counsel him through every challenge. The only thing that ever helped bring relief was and still is to surrender and trust the One who loves my kid even more than I do. 

I wasn't even fully aware of that until this week when we were studying 1 Corinthians 13 in Bible Study. Those verses and the experience of letting my children go revealed to me that I have the choice to tap into the comforting, reassuring feeling of relief at any moment. I always have. Even now before we've started packing his car. I don't have to wait until the drive home or next week or a month into it. I have a choice to trust today. In this moment. Right now.

The Message's version of 1 Corinthians 13 explains all the aspects of love. The verses are quite familiar to many of us and as usual I was struck this week by the challenge that Paul presents us on how to love well. 

But more than the specific verses on love, this week I was most moved by the last part of the chapter. Paul reminds us that we don't see things clearly right now. That "we're squinting in the fog, peering through a mist." And the truth is we won't see everything clearly on this side of heaven. This reminded me of all of us who send our children out into the great unknown. Paul doesn't give us a look into the future. He doesn't tell us that everything will be okay. Instead he says, "for right now until that completeness, we have three things to do: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly."

Truly the only advice that I have ever needed before sending my kid off into the world was not something I learned from parenting articles or friends' advice or a podcast or the University of Blah Blah's Parent Facebook page or some dumb mom in Northern Virginia who writes a bunch of BS every Friday on her blog.

Paul's words in a portion of the Bible that I have read and heard hundreds of times in my life? This is the most practical advice I'll ever receive. Just three things:

Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. 

So, today, before we even pack a single thing, this is our job description. We can't see clearly, Moms. We don't know what this year will bring. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But I know that right now, today, in this very moment I can start with the first task of my job description and my experience tells me that when I do this, relief will flood me like a river. Because the God of the Universe has a plan for our kids and it's better than anything we could ever dream up. They will never be alone because He will never ever leave them.

Let's for a moment, let all the other tasks fall away and start here: Trust steadily. The God we serve is worthy of our trust. When we do this one thing, everything else seems to fall into place.

But I do think I'm gonna go buy that shower curtain.

Have a blessed weekend.

Disclosure: The View From Behind Home Plate is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn small fees by linking to amazon.com. Post might contain other affiliate links as well