Cliché

I know it is totally cliché to say how fast children grow up, but people say it so much because it is true. I can hardly fathom that my little man just turned 4.

My littler man just turned 7 months. I have found that the time flies by doubly fast when you add a second child – more milestones to mark the passing of time.

It is also cliché, but true, how bittersweet it is to watch your children grow up. I love, love, love who my little men are becoming and I wouldn’t go back and make them younger again if I could, but I do wish I could slow things down. I want to treasure each step of the way, but I am far too prone to get caught up in the everyday tasks.

My mom used to always tell me, “Don’t wish your life away,” because I would be wishing it were summer vacation, or Christmas break, or my birthday, or Friday, or anything besides the particular day it actually was. I didn’t really appreciate the value of that advice until just a few years ago. I try not to, but I still do it, just in smaller chunks of time. Looking at the clock to see how long until lunch? naptime? Mike gets home? bedtime?

Tick, tick, ticking the time away.

Too often I choose having the house perfectly straight over just being with my babies. I know there is a balance to these things and I am working on finding it. I want to look back one day with Jesus and see I chose to spend my time on things of eternal value rather than temporal.

This week as we celebrate milestones: Kyle turning 4 years, Cade turning 7 months, me turning, uh, older than that, I want to remind myself of the cliché: “Be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet.” We are works in progress, being lovingly molded in The Potter’s hands and He is showing me just how precious and fleeting these days are and how valuable my well-spent time is in the lives of the ones He has placed in my care.

So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12