“They take so long to grow up.” “I remember when my kids were that age…it seems like they were young forever.” “They’ll stay little.” “It seems like years ago that…” Said no one EVER. I’m sure we all know that the opposite of those statements is true and that those with more life experience are quick to gently remind us how fleeting time is.
As a young mom, there are moments in time that feel like they will last an eternity – temper tantrums, sleepless nights, and pew wrestling, just to name a few. And even though my stage-of-life group doesn’t have as much life experience as others, I’ve never heard any of my friends say “oh, that went by so slowly!” or “it totally feels like he should be X months already!”
I think that’s one of the things that strikes me most about time…that just about everyone views and feels it as having the same quickness and hurriedness. We never have enough of it. We seem to easily lose track of it. Things never quite seem to last as long as we think they’re “supposed” to.
Time is free, but it’s priceless.
You can’t own it, but you can use it.
You can’t keep it, but you can spend it.
Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.
~ Harvey MacKay
A New Stage
We reached a new stage with Riley this weekend…the Exersaucer. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing my girls grow and change. But with each new phase, I get a little sad thinking about the fun stage we’re leaving. She’s not even four months old yet…time for the Exersaucer already?! In my defense, the first few months of her life were kind of a blur (read about all that here). As a second-time mom, I had a little bit better idea of how to “savor each moment” and what that meant in reality. But even so, I still feel like I somehow missed it because it just went so fast. I think somehow, that even if you were able to do nothing but snuggle a newborn for weeks on end, that you would still feel like time passed quickly.
As you can see, it can actually entertain both of my babies š . And speaking of birthdays (because we were, right? š ), our oldest turned three this weekend. THREE!!! She’s been in our lives for three years already?! I’ve been someone’s mama for three years?! See what I mean? Time is crazy.
Purposeful Time
Years ago, before we had kids, my sister-in-law shared some challenges she faced as a young mom of two at the time. I remember clearly that one thing she asked herself daily was “have I taught them anything today?” That stuck with me.
As I’ve mentioned before, I am a very new stay-at-home mom. For the first 2.5 years of Avery’s life, I had a full-time job in Tampa with a one-way 45 minute commute. I constantly felt like I had a death grip on the time we had in the evenings and weekends together, because that’s all I had. As we all know, it can’t all be fun and games…dinner has to be cooked, chores need to be done. Life doesn’t stop just because you’re “off work.” But, that’s a post for another time.
Strangely enough, now that I am home with the girls, sometimes I still feel like I don’t have enough time; time to etch their sweet faces in my mind, time to memorize the sound of their voices, time to breathe them in. I still need time to be a wife and keeper of our home, feed myself spiritually, and goodness, I would really like to get back in the gym!
Teach Them Diligently
In Deuteronomy chapter 6, Moses is giving the Israelites a message from God. He has just given them The Ten Commandments (Deut. 5:1-21), but now Moses gives them additional benefits of heeding the words of God – that their days in the promised land would be long and that they would multiply (Deut. 6:2-3). The commandments to the people of Israel were for their own benefit, just as the words of God are for our own good today. He’s the designer…doesn’t it make sense to spend our lives according to his instructions?
However, the Israelite children weren’t going to just somehow soak up God’s commandments and “catch on” by themselves. They had to be taught. Constantly.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
~ Deuteronomy 6:7
Looking at that verse, I don’t see any time, position, activity, or posture that we can’t (or shouldn’t be) using to train and teach our children. Do you?
I’ve heard it said that “Christianity is taught, not caught.” I can raise my girls in a Godly environment, use my life as an example to the best of my ability, and surround them in the love and community of the church, but ultimately, it will be their decision whether or not to become a Christian. I need to use my time now, while they are in my home and with me more than anyone else, to teach and equip them to make that ever-important decision.
Time Well-Spent
I find it interesting that we all have the same amount of time each day – 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds – but some are able to use it more effectively than others. I learned several years ago that people always have time for the things that are important to them. No one has to twist my arm to spend time with my family or attend worship services.
It’s not about having time. It’s about making time.
~ Unknown
I personally do best if I have some sort of routine, especially while our schedule depends so much on Riley’s naps. Mondays are for recovering from the weekend and errands. Tuesday we go to Ladies Bible Class. Wednesday is story time at the library and evening worship. Thursday and Friday are our fun and free days. But no matter what we do, I try to be intentional with our time and remember that while every day doesn’t have to be “magical,” that each day is a gift and an opportunity.
“Teach Us to Number Our Days”
Time is deceptive. For many, problems, tragedy, and death seem so very far away. But is it really? You’ve heard it said a gajillion times, but none of us is guaranteed tomorrow, tonight, or even the next minute. The time to get your life right, grow spiritually, work on your marriage, and start building a solid foundation of faith for your children is now.
The danger with time is that we think we have so much of it, and all too easily, it slips away. We look back and wonder, “where did the time go?” or “how did I just spend that last hour?”
Now listen, I am not saying that you need to start accounting for every second of your day and watch the clock to drive yourself crazy. Sometimes, I am guilty of being too time-driven so that it does steal the joy of the moment. However, being mindful of time and its nature will help you to use it more wisely.
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
~ Psalm 90:12
The Right Kind of Busy
You would think that with all of our technological advances, that somehow all of these gadgets would give us more time. I guess in some ways (or a lot of ways) they do. We recently added some Alexa devices to our home…we don’t have to flip a switch to “turn on the living room lamp” (and yes, you must say it just like that š) or use a remote for the TV. I even have a robot vacuum that I love like some kind of weird pet to cut down on time spent sweeping! But still, we all find ourselves “too busy” for so many things.
It’s not enough to be busy…the question is: what are we busy about?
~ Henry David Thoreau
This isn’t a hobby bashing post, because time that you enjoyed wasting was not wasted. I’m also not going to say to always ignore your work to do things you enjoy, because sometimes we all have to do things we’d rather not do. “Adulting,” am I right? But if I am too busy with so many things that really don’t matter that I neglect the things that really do (faith, family, friends, etc), then I am too busy.
I guess this rambling about time was mostly for my own benefit, and hopefully you were encouraged by it as well. We all have things we can improve on, but time management (or more, time appreciation) seems to be pretty universal. It’s not about constantly watching the clock, but enjoying and being a good steward of the moments I’ve been given.