SETTING YOU FREE..BUT NOT LETTING YOU GO

Hello friends, neighbors, and country men...and you country women also. One of my favorite groups is called LOST DOGS. It consists of the leaders of four alternative Christian bands. The bands...and leaders are...DANIEL AMOS (Terry Taylor)...77's (Mike Roe)...THE CHOIR (Derri Daughtery)...and ADAM AGAIN (Gene Eugene). Gene died a few years ago...but the boys carried on.

As I write this Rambling...I am listening to their album MUTT. They are singing reprises of some of each groups songs...with them trading off the vocals.

Once song on this fine collections...is I'M SETTING YOUR FREE (BUT I'M NOT LETTING YOU GO). It is a tender song to a daughter who has grown up and who is leaving the nest.

I'M SETTING YOU FREE...BUT I'M NOT LETTING YOU GO
I'M WATCHING YOU FLY AWAY...BUT KEEPING YOU CLOSE
I CAN'T HELP BUT CRY A LITTLE...HEAVEN KNOWS
I'M SETTING YOU FREE...BUT I'M NOT LETTING YOU GO

For me and Brenda...at this point in our lives...this song speaks volumes. On June 10th 1987...our lives and world changed forever. This was the day that PHILLIP STEPHEN BOYD entered the world and our home. On Saturday, May 17th, 2008...at 10:00 A.M., in Murphy Athletic Center at Middle Tennessee State University...in Murfreesboro Tennessee...our little baby boy...will be graduating from Blackman High School.

It seems like yesterday...when we were smiling at the camera...surrounded by family and friends...and we were holding our precious gift from God. Nineteen years later...our little baby boy...is now a young man.

We have always tried to train him, teach him, encourage him, give him a sense of self-worth, instill in him an image of who he is IN CHRIST (the Anointed One, anointed with yoke breaking, burden lifting, oppression removing power).

I have tried to live out Ephesians 6:4.."And you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training of the Lord." That does NOT mean that we did not have conflicts...but we always came out of the other side of the conflicts...loving each other.

His Mom's prayer of BLESSING on him from the crib to graduation is found in Numbers 6:24-26..."The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace."

We are no at the CROSSROADS...as we get ready to RELEASE our son. For 19 years we have poured our hearts and souls...our blood, sweat, and tears into our boy. We have tried to live our lives as transparent as possible...letting him see our warts...our mistakes...and our faith in a God who is full of grace and mercy.

To be honest with you...it has been a bumpy road at times....but it has been worth it. In Proverbs 22:6...we are called to..."Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." The Ruminator version of that verses says..."Live out your life by example before you boy...and when he is old...he will realize that Mom and Dad actually know what they are talking about." Between the point of becoming a YOUNG MAN...and becoming OLD...Phillip has to do as it says in Phillipians 2:12..."Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my PRESENCE only... but NOW much more in MY ABSENCE...WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION...with fear and trembling...for it is God who WORKS IN YOU both to will and to do for His good pleasure." Thank God that He is working in my boy.

Part of the releasing process...is by faith...releasing him to walk out what is in him...and he cannot do that in just our presence. He must spread his wings...and live out what he knows...in our absence. The choices he makes...will be his choices and not ours. The mistakes that he makes will be his mistakes. The consequences of his choices will be his consequences.

ENTER THE LOST DOGS. That song...that speaks of release of a child...also speaks of NOT LETTING GO. Phillip will always be within the reach of our prayers. He may be released into life...where he will make new friends...experience new experiences...meet young ladies who may become his wife at one point...but our influence by the power of intercession for our boy...will be there.

We speak..."Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you..." (Jeremiah 1:5) Yes...this passage was about a prophet to the nations...but I'm convinced that God know Phillip Stephen Boyd...long before he arrived at the Boyd household... and God has PURPOSE for him.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a FUTURE and a HOPE. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:11-13) Again...yes...this was written to exiles in captivity...and speaks of God's purposes and plans for them even in the midst of captivity...but again...we are convinced that this applies...not only to our son...but to us...and yes...even YOU.

Thanks to everyone who over the past 19 years...have been apart of the growth process in Phillip's life.

Love and Parental Kisses (PK)
Rodney and Brenda "It Seems Like Just Yesterday"Boyd