The Lord will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.—Psalm 121:7‒8 (NIV)

A black cobra? On Tom’s routine bike ride? In downtown Singapore? “I just rode around his tail, Mom. His head and hood were about six feet away . . .” 

Just when I had convinced myself that his metropolitan cycling was safe, that I no longer needed to worry about my son, the professor: happily married with a child, a satisfying career, good health, many friends. Now a cobra. Of course, he was not harmed, and the snake’s appearance was a rarity, but I must confront the chilling reality that life has its perils, no matter what. 

Parenting four children, I must have dreamed that I could coast along, worry-free, once they could toddle without tumbling down stairs or flailing scissors. Childhood was fraught with bruises and bike wrecks—I bought antiseptic by the quart. Then we tackled driving safely and making good decisions about friends and parties. When they left home, I could stop worrying, right? Hardly. 

My son Greg now works as a property manager, driving all over Los Angeles. He sends photos of himself seven stories high—outside—installing air-conditioning. And he’s proud of his electrical installations of umpteen hundred volts. “It could fry me, Mom!” Even my daughters commute thirty to fifty minutes a day, often on ice or in blizzard conditions. 

How I wish I could guard my adult children, but I cannot. Instead, I pray fervently, daily, that God will protect those I love. I know He does.