When Words of Wisdom Ring True

I suppose it is a natural human instinct to want to share with others the wisdom we have acquired over the course of our lives. When you become a parent everyone, and I mean everyone, has something they need to tell you regarding how to parent your child. I’ve heard all types of things during my almost thirteen years of being a parent. I have learned things I did not want to know and then, there were many times I gleaned from the wisdom that was shared with me. A few phrases have stuck with me throughout this time as a parent and maybe they have stuck with you also.

It won’t be like this for long.

Cherish the time you have with your kids because it goes by so fast.

The house can wait, play with your babies.

As those phrases are shared with you, you’ll listen. You’ll think you really understand. If you’re like me, you’ll even hang the It Won’t Be Like This For Long sign on your wall. You’ll hang it because you know difficult days will happen and you desperately want to remember what’s most important on those days when you think your to-do list is so long that you can’t possibly stop and take a few minutes to play that imaginary game with your little one. Oh, the times I have been guilty of this.

Then, quicker than you could ever imagine, something will happen that will make those words of wisdom ring truer than true in your life. It will make those statements ever clear. It won’t happen just once, it will happen again and again. Each time those words ring true for you, they will hit you hard and make you evaluate how valuable this life is. Like many times before, this happened to me today.

Today it was a pair of shoes I found while transitioning my young child’s closet from Spring/Summer to Fall/Winter. Right there, on the pile of things I had been saving for my youngest, sat my oldest daughter’s ball cleats. It’s been several years since she played ball, yet turning the shoe onto its side revealed dirt that seemed like it was just placed there yesterday while she played her heart out on that field.

It’s crazy, really. 

Those little shoes were probably bought a size larger, so they would last more than one ball season. Yet, so quickly I find myself examining those little shoes at a very different season of my oldest one’s life. She was around 8 years old at the time those little shoes fit her feet. She was a little blonde-haired girl who would not wear a hairbow no matter my attempted forms of persuasion. Now, she is about to be a teenager and that blonde hair is a sun-kissed melody of brown and blonde. She stands nearly a foot taller than her mama. And, those cleats with seemingly-still fresh dirt, would not fit half her foot.

I am thankful for this season of life even though the seasons seem to change faster and faster with each passing year. I am thankful that something as simple as a pair of shoes can serve to remind me of the short span of time that my husband and I have been gifted with to pour into our children. I pray we consistently take time to evaluate what is truly important and make decisions that will prayerfully serve our children throughout their lives, so they will understand what it means to cherish the time God has given us, and the importance of using that time to diligently pursue His calling.