More Moments Like This

Sunday was perfect.  After church in the morning, we ran to Lowes to get a few hanging pots - flowers for the front yard and a fern for the kitchen.  Had a great lunch and then I headed to the grocery store.

The fun began when I got home.  Hubby had set up the plastic wading pool and water table for the girls.  I had purchased a few tiny water guns.  We spent the afternoon getting wet, enjoying the beautiful weather.

It was the kind of day I want to have every day.  I was actually only out there with them for maybe two hours, but it was two hours filled with fun. No worrying about chores.  No iPhone or Facebook distractions.  No TV. Just me and the girls and a beautiful day.

I don't know why it is so hard for me to enjoy moments like this.  I don't know why I let stress get the best of me.  Instead I think of work responsibilities on a long weekend when (hopefully) no one else is thinking about their day jobs.  I focus on all of the chores around the house that aren't done.  I worry about money, calories, the future, grocery lists, laundry, and much, much more.

But life is too short for that.

Around the neighborhood we have a number of kids graduating from high school.  They were just starting 6th grade when we moved in the neighborhood.  It seems like that was just yesterday.  And here they are getting ready to go away to college in the fall.  I know it won't be long before my girls will be getting to that point in their lives.  Will I remember days like Sunday?  Or will I remember being stressed, overwhelmed, and anxious all of the time?

I know what I want to remember. And I will do my best starting now to create moments like this everyday.  Moments where I don't worry. Moments where I laugh along with my daughters.  Moments where messes are ok and smiles are abundant.  I know the everyday stresses still have to happen. But life is too short to let them take away from enjoying God's blessings.

Priorities

Don’t you love it when you stumble upon something that you know was just meant for you to read at that particular moment?  Today, I was randomly reading blogs during my lunch break (I forgot to bring a book to work) and I read something that really hit home for me today. 

You see, my four year old has been asking me pretty much every night lately if I’ll be able to stay home from work the next day.  She’s been pretty emotional and I can tell she’s frustrated about something.  She’s been crying more than usual and has been leaving her room at bedtime to come see me more and more.  Being a four year, she doesn’t really have the right words to say what she needs or wants, but I am pretty sure she is trying to tell me something important by the way she is acting.

It bothers me to see her upset as she is usually very easy going, happy child.  And she always loves spending the days with grandma while I work, so I could tell something was up when she started asking me to stay home from work.  Then I read this:  Are you're children acting crazy?  Maybe they need more of you.  It was just what I needed to read today!

To tell you the truth, this has been on my mind lately, but I’ve sort of been ignoring it.  I still haven’t figured out how to create 40 more hours in my week so that I can take care of my job and my home and then have quality time for my family.  So I spend 9 hours a day away from home and when I come home, I cook, help with homework, sort through mail, load the dishwasher, unload the dishwasher, plan grocery lists, pay bills, vacuum, do laundry (sometimes), clean up messes, give baths, say bedtime prayers with the girls, run errands and stress about the million other things that I’m not getting done.  The weekends aren’t much better with church, soccer, occasional dance or girl scout programs, visiting relatives, grocery shopping and playing catch up from the week.  I’m busy, busy, busy, but I’m not focusing my energies in the right places.  The problem is, I am neglecting my most important responsibility – being there for my daughters.

As a mom, I’ve been working outside of the home full-time for almost 8 years now, since my oldest was 4 months old.  You’d think with my experience I’d know a thing or two about balancing it all but I don’t.  I cannot figure it out no matter how hard I try.  But try I must, as time keeps moving faster.  Only 4 and 8 years old now, soon these girls will be teenagers.  

The challenges they face will keep getting harder.  And if I cannot give them the time they need now, will they learn to not come to me?  Will they find other, possibly dangerous, places to seek comfort and help?  What a terrifying thought.  Starting today, I will seek out opportunities to laugh and play with them.  I will stop what I’m doing to enjoy Dancing with the Stars with my budding ballerinas.  I will stop saying it is too late for a bedtime story and will enjoy every moment of even the longest of stories.  I will say yes to pedicures and Barbies and baking cookies.  I will pray daily that God gives me the wisdom to use my time wisely and invest it in what matters most.  The dirty dishes will always be there but these beautiful girls will soon be grown.  And what I do today may affect who they turn out to be as young women.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. – Ephesians 5:15 - 17