Ode to time

This is not just another "where has the time gone" post or even a "treasure the moments" post. If it is anything, it is a blend of "live in the moment" and "God help me find time to have a moment" as I transition from a chaotic bedtime rush to a quiet and peaceful state where my rambunctious kids are returning to their angelic personages in sleeping bliss. Okay, so it isn't quiet per se as my husband is working on our house addition causing his compressor to go on every 4 or 5 minutes...but really I barely hear it anymore.

I am enjoying this season in life immensely. Not just the kids and their rapid growing, ever changing ways but the new seasons I see my sisters entering. It was almost twelve years ago my husband and I wedded and my littlest sister, twelve at the time, cried convulsively the entire ceremony. That little girl is now getting ready to say "I do" herself and join the ranks of married women (can anyone recommend a good waterproof mascara?).

My other sister three down who used to give me the "I'm so bored" look if I talked kids too much is now a mom herself and simply lost in the adoration of her little man. I love it. I love the depth and maturity and emotion and perspective that occurs with growth and change. I even love getting a little smirk on when I see her having "mom moments". Maybe I'm not crying over a tiny outfit that no longer fits anymore but I still get the uncontrollable urge to go pick up my sleeping baby after he has been in bed for awhile and cuddle him and get a little smile to tide me over for a bit longer. I can smirk at the emotion my sis displays as a new mom but usually I'm just crying right along with her at how fast my baby is changing.

Really, I'm constantly trying to figure out how to balance it all, husband, kids, schooling, church, housework, cooking, laundry, and so on and so on, while still being present and available to admire a block house or commiserate over a dead beetle. I make lists, I organize, try new things, fall off the wagon, get back on the wagon, just trying to keep all my responsibilities covered.

But in my hustle and bustle, my rushing and running and ....ahem....scolding, it is good to remember that "love never fails". Love brings me back to the moment. It gives me the powerful influence I need as a parent because it "always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres".
I can think of no better way to illustrate the passing of time, and the meaning in that passing, than these two pictures of Watson.

Moms, dads, parents in general have to be present for these fast passing moments to reveal the brilliance and beauty of living and when our efforts fail, as they often will, to point them to the Great Father who holds life and who is love.

 God's love never fails. Our walking in God's love will not fail. Watson's love never fails to remind me that time, oh relentless and remorseless deserter, is precious.