{Day 31} You're Gonna Miss This

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND ... Happy Last Day of the 31 days series! I seriously wondered if I'd have enough to write about to fill 31 days but this has turned out to be a wonderful experience for me. Plus, I've rediscovered how much I love blogging! Thank you to so many of you who have read and commented and given great feedback this month. I truly appreciate you all.

I'm not sure if you remember on the very first day when I talked about the perspective of time. I know people always tell you, cherish these days, they go by too fast. But I never really realized how true it was until I had kids.

Through each phase that the girls have gone through I have thought 'gosh, I just can't wait till we're through THIS stage'. Whether it was the sleepless nights with a newborn or the frustrating days of potty training a 2 year old or the testy attitudes of the 3, 4, and 5 year old. Maybe it was the desperate need for independence at 6, 7 and 8. Either way - there have always, at every age, been times that were difficult and trying on us as parents. There were always times when we just wished the time away thinking we couldn't wait until they had passed that phase.

And all the time I knew it was going too fast. I knew that time was speeding up and not slowing down. But just this year it's hit me harder than ever before. Our oldest daughter just turned 10. The past year has been filled with an incredible amount of changes in her life. I don't want to embarrass her by explaining them all, but let's just say that girls begin to change a TON, a whole lot earlier than I ever expected. And a lot of it was emotional too, not just physical changes. She went from a naive, little, innocent girl this year into a young woman who knows a whole lot more about the world and crazy things I never thought we'd have to talk about at this age. When she turned 10 I did a little reflecting over the past 10 years. I simply cannot believe how FAST 10 years have gone. It scares me a little that in 10 more years she could very well be gone from our home. {I went to college at 17 and was married at 20!} I can't imagine the thought of not seeing her every day.

There are so many things that my girls already do independently. They don't need me to pick out their clothes or dress them anymore. They don't need me to fix their breakfast {or lunch many days} anymore. They don't need help getting into the car or getting buckled. They don't need help bathing or showering or washing their hair or brushing their teeth. They need me less and less every day it seems. And yet I KNOW that I know that I know ... that they still NEED me - emotionally they need me, they need me to listen, they need me to BE there, they need me to encourage and support them, they need me to show up for the special things in their lives, they need me to show that I care about what interests them, they need me to model Christ to them. They might not need my help with many things anymore, but they still need me each and every day.

My last and final challenge for you is just to slow down and enjoy every day, every moment, every phase of your journey. If you're a wife - slow down and make time for your spouse, look for the good in him every single day. If you're a Mom, cherish those precious gifts the Lord has entrusted to you. Spend time with them, laugh with them, show up for their events, be there to cheer them on in everything, help them, HUG and kiss them {no matter how old or 'cool' they are}, snuggle up and read with them, and most of all - don't rush through it all. Life is too short and too precious to rush your way through it and wish away the time. It's a lesson I'm learning daily and I pray that each of you will do the same.

You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins

She was staring out the window
Of their SUV
Complaining, saying,
I cant wait to turn 18
She said, "I'll make my own money"
And I'll make my own rules"
Mama put the car in park
Out there in front of the school
And she kissed her head
And said 'I was just like you"

You're going to miss this
You're going to want this back
You're going to wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're going to miss this

Before she knows it
She's a brand new bride
In her one bedroom apartment
And her daddy stops by
He tells her "It's a nice place"
She says "It'll do for now"
Starts talking about babies
And buying a house
Daddy shakes his head
And says "Baby just slow down"

Cause
You're going to miss this
You're going to want this back
You're going to wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're going to miss this

Five years later
There's a plumber
Working on the water heater
Dogs barking, phones ringing
One kids crying, one kids screaming
She keeps apologizing
He says "They don't bother me.
I've got two babies of my own.
One's 36, one's 23.
It's hard to believe..."

But
You're going to miss this
You're going to want this back
You're going to wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're going to miss this
You're going to miss this
Yeah you're going to miss this


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lBDN8yWyNYU