Day Twenty-five- Enjoy Every Season

Once you become a parent, you are a parent for life. Sounds a bit ominous, doesn’t it? Fortunately we don’t have to do the entire job all at once. Just like everything else in life, there are different seasons in parenting.

Each season comes with its own set of joys and challenges. Sometimes the challenges leave us longing for the next phase. We fall prey to the “whens” and the “if onlys.” “When the baby comes, then we can really start to get settled.” “If only she were potty trained, then things would be so much easier.” “When he starts school…when she’s a teenager… if only he could drive himself around…when we finally make it to graduation…” We can get so caught up in thinking about the next season that we forget to enjoy the one we’re in now.

Once a moment has passed, we can never get it back.  Yesterday is gone and we have no real promise of tomorrow. But what we can do is fully live in this present moment. We can be grateful for this current part of the journey. We can lean into the challenges and appreciate this time we have with our children.

“The days are long, but the years are short.” (Gretchen Rubin) Today, this very moment, this is their childhood. This is life. Don’t waste another moment wishing for something else. Embrace this season with gratitude…you’ll be so glad that you did!

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1