Take The Time

I love my little family full of men. I love Garrett's bright-eyed beautiful smile and hearing him laugh whenever he sees David coming down the stairs. I love listening to David sing and teach his stuffed animal friends all the important lessons he has been learning. I love snuggling Garrett at bedtime while sitting in the nursery listening to David tell Ross all about our day. It is so fascinating to see the little details he remembers and picks up on (along with the stories he tells that aren't so true). I am truly blessed.

However, amidst the mayhem of a fussy teething baby and a toddler insisting that the baby is a big boy and ready to be tackled- when getting dinner finished before dad gets home despite two hours of tag-team whining is a miraculous accomplishment, it's hard not to get frustrated by all the things that are not being taken care of. I look around at the toys, text books, socks, mail and kitchen utensils scattered all over the house and just wish my mom would magically appear with that frequent-threatened big black garbage bag from my childhood and throw everything away.

Some day in the distant future- after all of our current and future children are potty-trained and well into schooling and Ross is done with schooling, I might be able to maintain a clean and organized house. Until then I am trying to make the most of this stage while it lasts because I know that too soon instead of watching the school bus zoom by from the window with David, I'll be watching it zoom by with David from the window by myself.

After a day of feeling particularly unaccomplished, heading to bed exhausted and trying to fall asleep despite the to-do list of never-ending needing-to-be-cleaned surfaces running through my head, I was encouraged by this excerpt from a parenting book:

If you feel that there is no end to your day's work and that life has been reduced to an endless, draining, and monotonous routine, wake up and smell the coffee, because life is not passing you by. On the contrary, you are at the center of the action. You are shaping and molding the very core- the attitudes, the faith, the future-of one or more young lives. Very few careers offer anything resembling this opportunity and none to the depth that is possible as a parent...renew your fascination with your child and remind yourself that you have him on loan for but few short years. An attitude of deep thanksgiving-even in the midst of toys strewn all over the house, piles of laundry yet to be done, crayon marks on the walls, and little hands frequently pulling at your sleeve-is not only appropriate but invigorating.

which was followed a few pages later in the book by a poem (written in my birth year!) that succeeded in leaving me feeling even more emotional and awful about all the times I've wanted to vacuum instead of playing Lego hide-and-seek or having a dance party in the kitchen.

Take the time, while they're right here by your side,

Take the time, while their arms are open wide.

Teach them how to love the Lord with all their heart and mind.

Oh, they're only home a season, take the time.

For one day they'll want to spend time alone.

One day they'll need to be on their own.

Next week their hugs may not seem quite the same-

Oh Lord, may they honor Your name.

That is my prayer for our kids- that they would love the Lord and honor His name. That they would be drawn to Him from an early age and cling to Him as their greatest treasure for the rest of their lives.