Preparing for Launch, Even When We Aren’t Quite Ready

Kristina Talbot reflects upon the fear and anxiety that comes with launching high-school teenagers into greater independence.  

Summer for our family means a lot of time on the road. Over the years, miraculously, I have somehow trained my kids to accept that I am not to be disturbed when I have my earbuds in. On this particular day, the change of scenery and never-ending search for the next available Buc-ee’s allowed for the type of head space not often found for me in this season of motherhood. It was in the quiet of watching the lines on the road that I found some rare clarity that comes with uninterrupted thoughts and prayer. 

As I passed mile marker after mile marker, I noted an unfamiliar substantial shift in the nature of my thoughts. It wasn’t that I didn’t think about the typical road musings; it was the addition of the realization of our new impending season that captured my mind. With an entering freshman and senior in high school along with a third- and fifth-grader, we are in many different phases of growth and development on any given day. Yet, the high-schoolers are in the process of launching into their own lives in new and unique ways that, while remarkable, can also be accompanied by fear and anxiety.  

The Root of My Fears 

As I dared to explore the root of the emerging fear and anxiety, I realized that the swirl of nerves had its origin in a singular question that is also an uncomfortable one.  

“Have I done enough?” 

I’m still with my younger children most of the time and have tremendous oversight of their activities and social life. As my teenagers have grown, so too have their freedoms. It is very much ordered that they should have greater independence than their younger siblings, but in that relinquishing of control, it can feel terrifying to wonder whether our guidance has been enough for them to make the right decisions now and pursue the best avenues for their future.  

My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accordance with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19) 

One of my all-time favorite movies is Rudy, the story of a young football player from a blue-collar working family whose Irish-American heritage planted the seeds of a dream within him to attend and play football at the University of Notre Dame. In a poignant scene after several setbacks and failures, he steps into the beautiful Basilica of the Sacred Heart and ask a priest this singular question, “Have I done everything I possibly can?”  

The priest replies, “Son, in my 35 years of religious studies, I’ve come up with only two hard incontrovertible facts: There is a God, and I’m not him.” 

It is the Lord who goes before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:8) 

As my children grow and can be in places both figuratively and geographically distant from me, I’ve been mindful of those incontrovertible facts. I’m learning to accept that part of the motherhood journey can come with doubt, fear, and questions. This is both normal and natural. Often, I attempt to dispel such anxiety-provoking thoughts by grading myself as a parent.

This is often counterproductive for any number of reasons, but particularly because I am keenly aware of how often I have fallen short. This self-scrutiny isn’t conducive to celebrating when and how I have allowed God’s grace to prevail, and it also places upon us the pressure of being solely responsible for the success and failures of our children.  

Entrusting Our Children to the Lord 

Thankfully, it is not just we as individuals who are entrusted into the Lord’s loving hands. Our children are His children as well. While we can readily intellectually know this reality, it is another to embrace this as our reality. It bears remembering that by virtue of the sacrament of Baptism, our children even as young adults are marked with an indelible mark upon their soul which claims them for Christ. They too are His adopted sons and daughters, and since He takes care of even the birds of the sky, how much more will He take care of those whom we most hold dear? 

“Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?” (Matthew 6:26) 

As much as I know this to be true and have seen it with my own eyes throughout my life, now that it applies to those whom I love within the very depths of my being, it bears remembering. It is comforting to recall that as we let our children go and entrust them to the Lord. Who better to launch them toward than our Heavenly Father who promises to hold them in the very palm of His hand?  

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Copyright 2025 Kristina Talbot
Images: Canva