Advise to be taken seriously

More and more each day, I realize how fleeting time is.  It feels as if the hours, days, months, and years are melting away, so to speak.  I remember when my first three kids were very little, I would see older, more seasoned mothers in stores or at church and they would say things like,  “Treasure these times, they are gone before you know it.”  or “These years will be some of the hardest years of your life, but they will be gone before you know it...treasure them!”  I haven’t always heeded all the mothering advise I have been given, but this piece of advise I took to heart.  I knew that this was advise to be taken seriously.  And I did.  I reminded myself of it while nursing my babies in the wee hours of the night and  I reminded myself of it while soothing a feverish toddler in the wee hours of the morning.  I reminded myself of it when battling a strong willed three-year-old boy and I reminded myself of it when potty training a stubborn two-year-old girl.  I was hopeful that if I did exactly as these older women suggested, it would be a recipe to slow down the years.  That if I took their advise and “treasured every moment”, I would somehow be given extra time that others might not receive because they were not aware and conscious of the time passing by too quickly.  As Bryan and I sat on the couch a couple of evenings ago discussing our kids, our family, and our future, it was made painfully aware to me that as intentional as I was about “treasuring every moment”, it was not the solution I was looking for.  The years still  rushed on by us and they continue to do so.  In spite of that, I am so thankful for the advise I was given and incredibly grateful that I never wished away good, bad, or mundane days with my babies.  As we enter a different phase in our parenting adventure, and as our kids grow older, I continue to remember that advise and treasure it in my heart.  While moving from court to court, gym to gym, watching hours of basketball, I remember.  When delivering swimsuits, instruments, and homework to school, I remember.  While being asked to lay with another little body in bed when all I really want is an hour alone, I remember.  When being asked to read “The Circus Ship” for the third time in one day, I remember.  I remind myself that these days too, are fleeting.  Gone and never to be gotten back.  I will continue to treasure quiet mornings with my preschooler, loud outbursts because of hair-do’s gone awry, difficult conversations about God and His ways, and tears over peers and things we just can’t control.  I will treasure them, not because it will be the magic solution for stopping the hand on the clock from ticking.  I will treasure them, simply because they are worth being treasured.        

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12