As I write this, my firstborn is 5,633 miles away in Taormina, Sicily. This is the farthest she has ever been away from home. Granted, she will turn 20 three weeks from today. But this is my kid who worries; she is my perfectionist, my empath. So the fact that she is over 5,000 miles from home should freak me out. In all honesty, the thought of it did freak me out for months leading up to this trip. I worried about how she would manage being in a foreign country so far away from all of her familiar places and people. I knew how important it was to her to be able to travel the world without allowing anxiety to hold her back.

This is where the “fabulous” part begins.

As soon as she got to her destination, I started hearing from her less and less. Not that I don’t want to hear from her—I absolutely do—but all moms know there are times in life when no news is good news. When I have heard from her, it’s to tell me about some cool experience she has had or to send me photos from her outings. She is at a fabulous, ancient amphitheater today making a presentation for her honors credit, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. 

This was my child who got overwhelmed at her preschool holiday parties. They were just too loud and stimulating for her tender, sensitive nerves. But now at almost 20, praise God (because it is He who deserves all the glory), she is out seeing the world and becoming the woman God wants her to become. I want her to know it’s a lifelong process, and at almost 50, I am still transforming and growing into the woman I am intended to be. 

So, for all of you moms of children who seem more sensitive or anxious than most, please know there will be days ahead when your little one will have the coping skills she needs to do the unthinkable.

All that is required of you is to acknowledge the way God created your children, give them all the tools they require (this does not mean doing everything for them or making them comfortable at all times), and pray for God to work in their lives and in yours as their parent.

Today, when I see her whereabouts on my phone (yes, I am the “find your iPhone” mom), I will not allow myself to freak out. Instead, I will rejoice. I cannot wait to watch as God uses these experiences in my daughter’s life to glorify Him.

This post originally appeared on the author’s blog

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