Lets Cheer Him On, Once Again

I looked at a calendar on the wall in my office this morning. This one page calendar was broken into three lines with four months on each line. So, you start at the top left corner with January, and you finish at the bottom right corner with December. When I looked at the calendar, I noticed that with the end of April we have officially completed 1/3 of our year. Does that take anybody back a little, or is it just me? In just two short months, we will begin a countdown to the next Christmas season. Did we not just put all of the decorations back in the attic? Here are just a few of the thoughts (very closely linked to different emotions) that went through my head:
- My oldest child will be 8 years old very soon. If she leaves home for college at 18 (which most do), that means my wife and I are almost half way done having her at home. Can that be true?
- My second in line, my son, is starting to get too heavy to take up stairs at night to put to bed, or carry down in the morning because he does not want to get up, "its too early Daddy." And when I do get a hold of him to bring him down, I can feel his toes hit my knees. When did he get so big?
- My third sits me down at the end of the day and begins the story, "Today daddy I made this picture at playdays (the church day care), we played outside on the playground, mommy came to pick me up and we went to the store....",and I think you get the rest picture. It was just the other day she was having a hard time saying a word, now she can run through her entire day with me without missing a beat. When did she decide to grow up?
- My youngest child will be 3 years old very soon. My baby, is now talking (and with that comes an opinion), walking, and getting into trouble. Just yesterday I was holding her in a rocking chair in the hospital.

The thoughts and emotions led me down a path that made me think deeply about the time that we have here on this planet. I began to think about Aesop's fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. I began to remember the times in my life (which seem to be the case most of the time) when life seem to pass me by like the hare. Able to make turns on a dime, jumping over the log then dashing underneath bushes. The problem comes in this, when I see my children growing up so fast, I desire time to move more like the tortoise. I remember as a child, I would be having my "huffy" moments because I wanted to be "big enough to do that" (whatever "that" may be). "I can't wait till I grow up", I would yell. My mother would loving pull me aside and look me square in the eyes and say, "Never wish a moment of your life away, for we will never be able to get back the time that is gone." Now as a child I never understood, but now, as a father, everything comes into clarity. She was teaching me to do everything within my power to make time slow down, like the tortoise. Don't rush through life. Take time to appreciate the gifts given to you everyday. And maybe, just maybe we can slow time even it is just for one moment. Her teachings may have fallen on deaf ears so many years ago, but today they heard as loud trumpets.

This is one aspect of my life that I have always been able to appreciate, I am able to enjoy my children in whatever stage that are in that moment. I have never been one to say, "I can't wait until they are out of diapers." I have never said, "I wish they were old enough to feed themselves." As I look back on why I think I have been able to do this, it is because of the instructions given to me so long ago as an ungrateful child, "Never wish a moment of your life away." So, today I will take some time. Today I will look at my children and smile. Yes, there are moments that I want to pull my hair out (what hair I have left), but the majority of the time I thank God for the time I have with them. I take time off from work, so I can be there for a birthday party at school. I stand there with a smile on my face, as I watch my son hit a baseball. I listen with excitement in my eyes as my daughter recounts her day. And, I listen to each word of my baby, because I know before long she will be gone. And when I do this, I believe in some small way I allow the tortoise to win once again.