This is an excerpt from a chapter I am writing on how knowing our stories grows our faith. The first part of that chapter is about the struggle to surrender to the unknown (in other words to live in faith.) The rest of the chapter took me to a story of my own difficult experience of going off to college and how God used that pain to bring me back to his heart. Here is where I ended regarding my daughter:
I am now three days closer to my daughter’s departure date. Writing about my tragic and yet deeply redemptive experience of going off to college has strengthened me to face her move into the unknown with greater faith. God has reminded me of key stories of rescue. As I think about my daughter’s new story, I have a certainty that comes from remembering redemption.
Much is still uncertain about her story. She may struggle. She probably will struggle. Her struggles will be different than mine. Perhaps she will be faced with the complexity of a difficult roommate; perhaps she will have problems with time management as she experiences the first romance of her life; she might even be homesick.
Then again, she is more likely to flourish. She will embrace the academic challenge; she will enjoy the experience of a church that lives with a sense of story and mission; and she will discover the previously unknown wonder of viewing life from mountaintops rather than the shore.
Whatever happens, whether her first year of college flows with the harmony of sweet shalom or jerks along with the awkwardness of a girl learning to drive stick shift or even comes to a complete stop when she hits a wall, I know this. She trusts in a faithful God. God has bestowed her with a wealth of family and friends who will be watching out for her and calling her name if she forgets it. Even if she does not hear us calling her home to herself, to turn and trust in God, God will pursue her until she does. Because I remember a great story of redemption in my own life, I can lean into the unknown of a story for which I deeply care, my daughter’s. Faith calls us to forgo our own plans for safety and security and follow God into the unknown and unfamiliar. Hope draws us to remember the “rest of the story” to dream about redemption in the present.