Time

Time is so interesting to me. It never stops, never slows down, and never speeds up — but sometimes it feels like it does. I remember as a kid I always thought time went by super slowly. Everything felt like it took forever — especially counting down to my birthday! My birthday is in April and as soon as January started, I began reminding my mom about it. I was the same way with the school year, Christmas, driving, graduation, and everything else — I’m sure it was annoying to my parents at times, but I just remember everything feeling like it took too long to happen. I was eager to rush the milestones because, as a kid, I didn’t know how to cherish and savor each season. Now, I’m a mama and I don’t feel like I could every have enough time to cherish and savor each season — I think it’s funny how that happens.

Our oldest son turned three years old yesterday and I can’t believe that we’ve been blessed with him for that amount of time.Where did it all go?! I can remember so many details from the day he was born and they’re still so vivid, that I can hardly believe it was three years ago! People told me it was going to go by quickly, but I couldn’t fully understand that until now. Every day my phone notifies me of memories in my camera roll and I’m shocked at how much time has passed since some of those pictures were taken! I look back on my oldest son’s newborn pictures and can’t believe that that little 7lb 14oz baby, is the same person as the three year old boy running around, talking, laughing, playing with his brothers, getting himself dressed, singing, and having opinions on what he’d like for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! He also lets me know when he needs a haircut and I don’t know how all of those changes only took three years! The speed of time hasn’t changed at all, but my perspective certainly has!

We live in a culture that encourages a fast pace. We have fast food, drive-thru windows, tap to pay, microwaves, and a ton of other things that contribute to the fast paced life we are told we should want. There are aspects of it — like the drive thru at the coffee shop so I don’t have to unload all of my boys in order to get some coffee on the road — that I thoroughly appreciate, but I personally don’t have a desire to live at a fast pace. I want to slow things down, cherish each season, and enjoy each day that I’m blessed with. I want to make food from scratch, enjoy pretty flowers, and marvel at the pure joy my boys experience watching bugs crawl or bees pollinating flowers or popcorn popping. I don’t want to rush through life because I don’t want to look back one day and wish I would’ve enjoyed it more.

I know there are really hard days — I’ve had those. I know there are really hard seasons — I’ve had those too. I also know that even in the hard, God is still good and He always uses the hard to teach me more about Himself. It’s easy for me to want to rush through the hard because it’s painful, but I’m reminded of James 1:2-3 which says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” I’ve yet to master the “count it all joy” part, but I’m grateful for the reminder that it’s possible to find joy in the hard. I also think of Ecclesiastes 7:14, which says, “In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.” God is with us through the exciting times of life and the hard times. He is good through them all and He can teach us through them all — for which I’m eternally grateful!

So, while this life is filled with hard times and good times, I pray that I would have the wisdom to savor each season, slow down, and learn whatever it is God is teaching me in the moment. As I remember life with our oldest son over the last three years, I’m filled with gratitude and joy for his life and I pray that we are blessed to enjoy many more years together with our boy. Each of our children are such blessings and God has used each of them to teach me more about Himself and I know that He will continue to do so.

I hear people say that “time is a thief” and it certainly feels that way at times. While I’ll never feel like I have enough time with the ones I love, I know that I can do my best to make the time I do get with them be memorable in the best possible ways and enjoy the minutes, days, and years as best as I possibly can!

Song(s) of the Week: This week I chose “Keep Me in the Moment” by Jeremy Camp, which I think I’ve shared before, but it’s a good one and it was applicable to today’s post. Enjoy!