As a young mother, I was often encouraged to enjoy the child-raising years. More often than not, my internal voice would say, "Don't you think I want to do that?! I'm trying ... But I'm just so tired. I can't keep up enough to reflect on the 'joys' of parenthood."
I now understand what those well-meaning friends wanted me to know. They were offering a nugget of wisdom -- one day, you'll miss the bustling activity of toddlers hanging on your ankles, the thousands of questions posed by an inquisitive five year old and the rigors of carpooling children to karate or ballet or piano lessons. These are the things memories are made of. Deposit them in your heart and mind. Someday, you're going to want to re-live those hectic days. Believe it or not, you will miss it!
Well, I do miss it. Gratefully, God has preserved many of those delightful (and challenging) mothering episodes in my memory bank. That has prompted me to keep a journal of some of those memories.
For example, I recall one day when the children were helping their dad with yard work. They were given the chore of pulling weeds in the terraced area of our backyard. All was quiet -- too quiet. In their 'diligence,' their weed pulling had resulted in pulling up all my beautiful irises. At the time, I was steamed! Looking back, I find it comical and that their actions didn't warrant the reaction I had. Thank you, Lord, for reminding me of the "iris incident." I love that I can have eyes to see that my children were trying to obey. They didn't pull up my flowers to hurt me. Quite the opposite -- they were wanting to please us.
God is teaching me through my walk down memory lane. How often have I tried to obey my Heavenly Father only to fall short? Yet, His response to me is forgiveness and compassion.
These memories and lessons from God comfort me when I'm missing the "good old days."
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