God's Hierarchy

I have been noticing lately that as my children grow older so do I. Wow-how did that happen? Some days I still feel like I'm in high school. You know, like when I floor it through a yellow light or turn up the volume way too loud to an old Rick Springfield song. All in the ultra cool minivan of course. Then, all of a sudden we're teaching our almost 16 year old to drive and child in question is asking me why I like hard rock music? Def Leppard is hard rock? I thought it was just plain old good rock. Hmmmm...
Even scarier is pondering how we are moving into our parents' place in the family and they are moving into our grandparents' place in the hierarchy. Our kids are us! I think something is wrong here. Out of place. Yes, that's it. I am out of place. I'm still twentysomething, aren't I?
No, I'm not. When my last living grandparent went to be with Jesus it just didn't seem right. Grandpa had always been there. Playing with us and laughing about the trouble he and his brothers got into. I knew every grandparent who had left me had left me with an unmistakable handprint of their life and their love for me. Their generation is leaving us albeit for a better place but leaving us nonetheless. Will we remember their stories? Will future generations remember ours? What will it be like when we're the grandparents?
When my head starts to spin with these types of questions and when that leads to worry, I've learned to pray. Often. Life is a gift. Our everyday life may seem everyday but we should cherish those moments. We should laugh a lot more. We will miss our children someday. We will enjoy our retirement. Eventually. When I ask God to take all my worries far from me, He obliges. I'm not meant to worry over every single solitary thing. He tells us He's there and He'll provide and that worry is a waste of time. I appreciate His worry-free shield He places over me. It leads me to pray for my kids and parents. And it reinforces the fact I am exactly placed in His hierarchy in the seat I've been given to occupy.