(Life got so busy last year that I got behind on posting my writings; here’s a post I wrote Spring of 2023.)

     I love my kids, and anyone who knows me knows how attached I am to them.  They’re boy/girl twins who are seniors in high school, so each time a college brochure comes in the mail, I refer to these mailers as “baby snatchers”.  It’s all in fun, and the twins know I am joking, but life is going to be very different for me in the next year.  

     Approaching their senior year, we have been praying for the Lord to direct their paths after high school, whatever that may look like.  My prayer for them has been centered around Proverbs 3:5-6, as I’ve prayed they will trust in the Lord in every aspect of their lives, not lean on their own understandings, and that in all their ways, they will acknowledge Jesus as their Lord so that he will direct each step they take.  

     When it came time to set up college tours, the twins lined up two schools they were most interested in and we went from there.  My heart was happy, as each of these schools were extremely close; so close, they could live at home, should they desire.  I thought I had empty-nesting preparation made, since I would have the opportunity to see them more often than if they had decided to go elsewhere, farther away.  Regardless, I still continued to pray, until the application and acceptance process was complete, as you never know how it will go.  

     Both the twins race for a club mountain bike team, and they were in their last season, which was bittersweet for their dad, whose love of this sport got our whole family involved.   My husband had us all riding mountain bikes as soon as possible and he and I are volunteer coaches for our twins’ team. We have been a part of this team for the past seven years, and have enjoyed all the practices, race weekends, and bonding opportunities with these people who share our love for mountain biking.  

     Our kids have never been the competitive sort, but had fun with the team and racing all the same.  That is until this year, when our daughter had a fire lit under her and she really doubled-down with this drive that came from out of the blue, or so we thought.  This girl who was once content with just getting out there and finishing each race now had a goal of making it on the podium following each race. She began to practice at home and asked to go on family bike rides that were longer than what we used to do.  One weekend we rode 22 consecutive miles; which is something we had never done before.  

     All her hard work paid off and she made the podium at each race, with the exception of the state championship.  With this, she caught the attention of a university which has a mountain bike team, one that was not a school she considered or one that we toured.  As she researched, explored and had contact with folks from the school, I could see doors open; doors we did not even know were on our college path.  

     A coach set up a meeting time at the last race, so we all got to meet him.  At this meeting we learned that since his university is growing their mountain bike team, they would also love to have our son race as well.  From there, a tour was set up to check out the university campus.  There was also time carved out with the coach to get all the details for what collegiate racing with this university would entail.

     At this point, new paths began to take shape.  We set up a tour date that worked for all our schedules and took a day trip to spend at the university.  As we toured, attended a session, had lunch with the coach, saw the athletic facilities, and checked out the dorms, I could visualize both our twins there.  Our daughter could too, and really felt like the Lord was leading her to attend school there.  

     Our son was not quite sure which school would be best.  He narrowed it down to two, one of which would not involve mountain bike racing.  Since college is such a big decision, we encouraged him to take his time and keep praying, seeking God’s will for his college path.  For the first time ever in their lives, there became a possibility of them being apart.  For kids who have done EVERYTHING together: school, church, work, sports, extra-curricular school activities, this was going to be a huge adjustment!  Either way, I had to trust God with his plan for them, even if that meant having them in two different cities.  

     After some time, our son became confident in his choice, as he felt the same clarity as our daughter had.  He decided to attend the same university where he will also continue cycling!  I could not help but immediately thank the Lord that they will be attending the same university!  Alongside this excitement, is the sobering reality that this also means that they will not be as close to home as originally thought.   Our home is going to be very different, and very quiet,  come August.  Having twins has been such a great blessing to me, but this means that empty-nesting is going to happen all at once.  

     This fact is made easier when I focus on the fact that our prayers were answered in such an amazing way.  God took a university that was not even on our radar and placed it right in front of us, by our daughter being contacted in regards to her racing season. By faith, I believe her competitive drive this season was placed there by God, which led to the university he had planned for them.  I praise the Lord Jesus for this answer to prayer and I pray that he will continue to direct each of their paths of life.  

     Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him,  and he will make straight your paths.”  If you have a path that needs direction, I encourage you to trust God with it; he is faithful and loves you like no other!