by Lorrie Young
It happened the other day. I was enjoying a nice sunny day, sitting on the porch as the kids played around me. My baby girl came over with a flower she had picked for me. As she ran by, my mind seemed to play the scene in slow motion. As the warm breeze rolled through her hair, her sun-kissed skin made her look older somehow, and her giggles seemed even more precious. As she turned to wave, letting me know she’d be back soon, it hit me: I suddenly realized my baby wasn’t a baby anymore.
My kids are growing up in a flash, and I’ll soon have three school-aged children! No more infants, toddlers or preschoolers. Gone are the sippy cups, highchairs and training wheels. No longer will anyone ask me to open a door, fasten a seatbelt, or read just one more book…
With stacks of scrapbooks about me and photos lining my walls, I admit to being sentimental. Inevitably, change is difficult for me. After nearly a decade of diapers, this new phase of life causes my heart to ache a bit. Yet I understand the danger of spending too much time walking down memory lane.
The other day as I was reading my Bible, I took note of Ezra 3:7-13. The Israelites had been taken over and held captive by the Babylonians for years. The Babylonians had destroyed their precious city of Jerusalem and torn down the glorious temple that Solomon had built for the Lord. After years of captivity and different reigns of different kingdoms, a whole generation of Israelites knew nothing about their hometown or Solomon’s temple.
Enter Ezra who feels called to take a group of his people back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. With money collected from the group, they finally complete the foundation, and are so very excited. Imagine the scene of young folks dancing, rejoicing and singing about the goodness of God, and the joy of rebuilding the temple. Yet Scripture reads that in the midst of this rejoicing, a group of older guys were grieving, mourning and weeping! The weeping was so loud that no one could distinguish between the sounds of joy and weeping! Can you imagine?
It seems strange to me that in the midst of God doing something so exciting, some would be grieving and crying! With everyone looking at the same situation and circumstances, there were two totally different responses. The difference was that the younger guys were excited to see God working and moving in the present, while the older guys were comparing the present to what was, used to be, and would never be again. And, of course, their response was sadness.
I share all this to remind us as mothers not to be like the older guys in the story. It’s good to take a few moments to relish the sweet memories of seasons gone by, but it’s not good to get lost there. Rather, God is doing new and exciting things with our children in each season of their lives. As they grow and change, we must adjust our perspectives so that we can rejoice in the exciting “present.” There’s a past to cherish, but there’s a present to embrace. And God is in the midst of it all!
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Lorrie Young, who enjoys writing in her spare moments, actively serves as the director of THESIS, a homeschool co-op in Marion County. She is a homeschool mom of three teenagers and is graduating her oldest this spring. Lorrie wrote this article several years ago. Her children haven’t stopped changing since!
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