Embracing Those Precious Moments With Our Children

Do you stop to smell the roses? Do you take time each day to really be in the moment? Or are you just caught up in the survival mode of life and parenthood? As the saying goes, “the days are long, but the years are short”. Enjoy the everyday moments with your children because they will soon be all grown up. We can become so caught up in the hum drum of life that our children become “familiar”.

Max Lucado discusses “familiar falsehoods in his book, “God Came Near”. The book says that familiarity, “won’t take your children, he’ll just make you too busy to notice them. His whispers to procrastinate are seductive. There is always next summer to coach the team, next month to go to the lake, and next week to teach Johnny how to pray. He’ll make you forget that the faces around your table will soon be at tables of their own. Hence, books will go unread, games will go unplayed, hearts will go unnurtured, and opportunities will go ignored. All because the poison of the ordinary has deadened your senses to the magic of the moment”.

I’m trying to learn balance and how to make sure that I don’t get caught up in the to-do lists of life. I want everyday to be filled with magical moments, even if they are just small moments. I love the smell of my daughter’s hair, the crooked smile of my oldest child, the goofiness of my baby’s personality, and the intense curiosity of my “Cooper”. I want every day to cherish; the smells, the smiles, the laughter, the curiosity, and the goofiness of my children. I don’t want to miss out on the moment because my to-do list is constantly running through my mind.

I want to share something else I have read that gave me a better perspective of how I want my moments with my children to be. I hope it gives all my readers a new perspective as well. It is a poem from Sally Meyer (1999). Please visit the link to read the poem. It is worth the few minutes it will take for you to read it, and you will be glad you did.

http://www.cathye.com/momjustfortoday.htm

This poem by Sally Meyer just gives me a whole new perspective. Sometimes all we need in life is just a new perspective.

Direction and Balance

I haven’t posted anything for over five months. This is a reflection of my life and personality. I’m a perfectionist, not that my life reflects perfection but I just strive so hard for it. I guess I’m what you would call a “discouraged perfectionist”. I’m all or nothing. If I can’t do something perfect then I tend to not do it at all. I’m a procrastinator by nature, but this personality trait drives me insane. So the reason I haven’t posted in five months is because I have this vision of this amazing life changing blog that everyone will want to read. I’ve set the standard so high for myself that if I can’t make each post amazing then I just don’t post at all. I forget about all the baby steps, and the fact that you have to start somewhere.

So here it is; the beginning of my blog. This will be a very candid blog about my life as a child of God, a wife, a mother, a daughter, and a friend. I struggle with the same things that all women struggle with. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only person in the world that feels the way I feel, and then I realize that I’m abnormally normal. I struggle with the want for instant gratification and to not be so all or nothing. I play so many roles in life that sometimes I feel like I’m having a hard time being good at any of them. Just as the old saying goes, “I’m the jack of all trades but the master of none”. I’m just at a stage in life where I’m trying to figure out how to have more balance in my life.

I have so many amazing ideas for this blog, but I’m not sure what direction to go towards. I have so many things that I want to share about; God, nutrition, motivation, raising kids, organization, inspiration, gift giving, recycling, living more simply, and the list just goes on and on. I have some projects that I want to start and document from start to finish because they are things we all struggle with. It’s just nice to not feel that we are charting new water all alone.

So to all my readers: Please bear with me as I find the direction for this blog, but whatever direction I take I promise you will never be bored. Suggestions are always welcome. Come back and visit soon and leave transformed. That is my hope for me, and everyone who reads this.
~Toni