My son said "I do" for the first time today. After enjoying a few moments of parental pride over the forming of his first phrase, I looked down the road and became anxious. All I could think of is the rest of the things in his life that he will do or be presented with the opportunity to do, and a chill ran down me. I am a first-time parent, and he is only 18 months old; this will be a long journey.

I read once that the human brain is not capable of playing out a situation completely (meaning from action to consequence to much later consequence) until it is 28 years old. This means that my son still has 26-plus years of saying "I do" or do-ing things before he fully understands the implications of what he's done. Again, let me reiterate, this will be a long journey.

I am writing on the cusp of my 30th birthday—a year and a half into full consequence understanding, and it is an enlightening state. I realize that I am almost too old to be writing for "One Voice," but I figured I'd better do one final "youthful" thing before I jump whole-heartedly into my 30s—which I'm sure will prove to be a long journey.

I am a person who struggles with giving up control. It is a continuous struggle between God and myself to get it all figured out. I have started to come to the place where I recognize God's goodness and blessings in my life and realize they are better than what I could have planned or controlled into existence for myself. Letting go will continue to be a life-long journey.

One area, however, that has been easy for me to give up complete control is when it comes to my boy. I was warned that once he came, I would not be able to live another day without thinking about him. This is the truth. Every second is spent obsessing about Max and willing his life (every part of it) into God's gracious and loving hands. I do my part to make sure he is safe, and I've begun the process of instilling in him a sense of respect and obedience—yet another long journey. However, divine protection and direction in his life are certainly in God's capable hands. I have come to the realization that as a parent, I can only do so much—eventually he will be on his own (I hear from more experienced parents that this is the goal). More than anything, it is up to me to give overall control to God and raise Max with the tools to do the right thing on his own journey.

Don't get me wrong, I have not been a doer of the right for my whole life, but once I passed the "full consequence understanding" threshold, things have become much clearer, and I realize in my "enlightened" state that I wouldn't change a thing. I own my journey with all of its imperfection, and pray that as Max continues on his journey into full consciousness that he will tightly hold Jesus' hand the entire time and say "I do."

Tonya Snyder resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and is the coordinator for the Berrien County Mathematics & Science Center.