Hannah's Faith

My daughter’s son Braden started to kindergarten last week, and she was lamenting the fact that he had grown from a tiny babe into a little boy so quickly. “I just want him to be happy,” she said. She doesn’t want him to be afraid or to have other kids tease him. Join the crowd of mothers everywhere, Carrie! We all want our children to be happy, healthy, brave, confident, and secure, and we worry about the moments when we can’t be there to protect them.

Will this concern end when he enters high school or college? No. My sister-in-law Becky, the mother of two handsome, strong, smart young men (my macho nephews) recently confessed that she misses them immensely even though they’re seniors in college. They attend college six hours away, and it’s torture for their mom not to be able to see their faces and hear their voices on a daily basis.

What about when he (Braden or any other child) marries and begins life with a spouse? Will the worry and concern end then? Nope, not then either. I speak from experience in that my son recently married and now lives four hours away. Since he’s married, I’m more hesitant about calling at any old time. Although he’s my son, he’s her husband, and I want them to strengthen their partnership, something more possible without a meddlesome mother-in-law. I wonder, just like Carrie and Becky, whether he’s sad, happy, scared, anxious, hungry, bewildered, or confused.

Does this feeling ever end? I think not. At times such as these, I think of one of my friends who’d often listen to my worries about my children and then demand, “Have you turned your children over to God yet??? They’re not yours anyway, you know. They’re His, and you just have to trust that everything will be fine.”

My friend’s reminder always brings Hannah to mind. Day after day, she went to the temple and prayed for a son. Eli, after inquiring about what he perceived to be her drunken state, learned of Hannah’s fervent desire for a child and of her promise to give him to the Lord “all the days of his life.” Eli then told her to go in peace and that God would grant her petition. We know the rest of the story. Hannah gave birth to Samuel, and after he was weaned, Hannah brought him to Eli to be raised in the tabernacle.

How did she give him up???? I don’t know the answer to that. I only know that I need to have a little more of Hannah’s faith and trust. After all, Braden, Chris, John, and Paul do not actually belong to us. They belong to God. We’re just the vehicles by which these remarkable people came to Earth.