The Magic Time

I have been trying to pack too much into too little time the last few days, and the things I've set out to do have not gone very smoothly. I feel like I've failed in many ways. But not for one second do I regret taking my boys out on a beautiful fall afternoon walk today. Watching them run and play through fallen leaf piles with big smiles on their faces and even happier hearts made me wish I could capture that memory forever in my mind.

This reminded me of a reflection I had earlier this summer. I was watering my garden on a warm and sunny summer day. The boys were playing well, and I was overcome with a sense of indescribable joy. My soul got a glimpse of the perfection of heaven, and it was wonderful. I realized then just how short our lives on this earth truly are in light of eternity. Why waste a day, even a moment, being in a grouchy mood no matter how seemingly justified the reason? Why waste time being tense with your kids on the bad days? It's so short. Then it's gone. Forever.

There is a paradox to these days of raising little children. They feel so long and hard sometimes. Your house (at least mine) is in a perpetual state of messiness. Everyone needs you to do everything for them. You just can't keep up. Yet time and time again, older parents who've passed through this stage, say in hindsight, these are the most magical of times, the ones they miss the most.

If that's true (which I'm sure it is), when I'm done with diapers and cleaning up countless messes that little hands have made, I would rather my grieving be because I miss the magic of the years--not because I wish I would have made more magical--even mundane--memories with my precious sons. One wise mom told me recently, with tears in her eyes, to be sure to cherish these days, because they truly do go so fast. Before you know it, your kids will be grown and gone, and you'll be wishing they'd call so you could say, "I just want to know what you're doing today."

So when you find your boys in the garage discovering that charcoal briquettes make really great sidewalk chalk, or that diaper rash cream adds a certain flair to their baby brother's clothes, or that Mom's nail polish is as pink on the carpet as it is in the bottle, and you're tempted to throw in the towel right at that moment, remember that another moment will come where you will long for them to call so you could just find out what they're doing that day.  And when that moment comes, the memories you made of these years--magical and sometimes maddening--will carry you through the silence of an empty home.

"Don't lose that wonder in your eyes

I can see it right now when you smile

Let me go back, for a while

Let me go back, for a while

To that magic time"

--Magic Time, Van Morrison

"Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works." --Ecclesiastes 9:7

(This post is linked to Gratituesday, hosted by Heavenly Homemakers)