"just wait until..." they say...
Enjoy it now, they say. Enjoy it while you can because this won't last forever. Giving you advice that they, themselves, wish they would have taken because hindsight is 20/20. Time passes too quickly, but we only notice after the fact. When it's too late. "Enjoy it now because this will soon be over. Just wait until the next phase. It only gets harder."
I remember when I was in college. I couldn't wait to graduate and start my career. I just knew life without the stress of tests and studying would be magnificent. Little did I know that stress would not go away, rather it would be replaced with the stress of making ends meet and paying the bills. I didn't understand what full time work required, what it meant. And I remember lamenting over my college days a mere few weeks after graduation when adult life sunk in. I wished with all my might I could go back, but I taking out loans was not something I was up for. I didn't even know what I wanted to do anyway. All I knew was that I missed the days of college more than I ever imagined I would.
Since Annabeth's arrival 8 weeks ago, Aaron and I have been asked the same questions and told the same advice over and over. "Enjoy these days of eating and sleeping because when they get older, you'll never get a break. Just wait until they turn 2... just wait until they turn 3... just wait until they start teething... talking... start school... get sassy... turn into teenagers...". And the adventure of parenthood seems to quickly go downhill as we're being warned about the perils of aging children. But how quickly one forgets what it was like waking up multiple times a night to change diapers and feed a hungry baby. How hard it is when said baby can't even hold their wobbly head up or how much your back hurts from trying to balance a fully dependent baby in one arm and be productive with the other. How easily it slips from the mind what life was like when you had absolutely no schedule because it was determined by a tiny person who didn't mind switching things up on a daily basis. We forget how it felt to desperately want a shower or put on normal clothes that won't soon be covered in spit up or baby juice.
But as we sit in our circumstances, we find ourselves saying, "I can't wait until..." I can't wait until I'm done with school, until I am married, until I have a child, until that child can talk/walk/use the bathroom/sleep through the night/go to school, until I can retire, until I have grandchildren." We look back only to realize that each season flew by faster than it felt at the time, and we'll never get those precious days back. We can't relive them, we can only remember them.
And so we should choose to enjoy these days and not rush through them. To be thankful for however long they last. Because they'll only last so long. College is so only so many years. Children aren't children forever. Jobs come and go. And if we choose to fully embrace the season, our current stage in life, the circumstances in which we find ourselves, we can look back on them with fondness and not regret. We can relish in the memories rather than wish we would have enjoyed the time as we reminisce about the past. And when it gets tough, and when the grass looks greener, we say, "Lord, give me joy right where I am. Place in me a heart of gratitude. Help me make the most of this time until it's time to move forward so that I don't wish it away. Thank you for what you're doing and for what you're teaching me during this season. And more than anything, use it to mold and shape me into the person you're calling me to be so regardless of what I am doing, or where I am, you will be honored and glorified through me."
I remember when I was in college. I couldn't wait to graduate and start my career. I just knew life without the stress of tests and studying would be magnificent. Little did I know that stress would not go away, rather it would be replaced with the stress of making ends meet and paying the bills. I didn't understand what full time work required, what it meant. And I remember lamenting over my college days a mere few weeks after graduation when adult life sunk in. I wished with all my might I could go back, but I taking out loans was not something I was up for. I didn't even know what I wanted to do anyway. All I knew was that I missed the days of college more than I ever imagined I would.
Since Annabeth's arrival 8 weeks ago, Aaron and I have been asked the same questions and told the same advice over and over. "Enjoy these days of eating and sleeping because when they get older, you'll never get a break. Just wait until they turn 2... just wait until they turn 3... just wait until they start teething... talking... start school... get sassy... turn into teenagers...". And the adventure of parenthood seems to quickly go downhill as we're being warned about the perils of aging children. But how quickly one forgets what it was like waking up multiple times a night to change diapers and feed a hungry baby. How hard it is when said baby can't even hold their wobbly head up or how much your back hurts from trying to balance a fully dependent baby in one arm and be productive with the other. How easily it slips from the mind what life was like when you had absolutely no schedule because it was determined by a tiny person who didn't mind switching things up on a daily basis. We forget how it felt to desperately want a shower or put on normal clothes that won't soon be covered in spit up or baby juice.
But as we sit in our circumstances, we find ourselves saying, "I can't wait until..." I can't wait until I'm done with school, until I am married, until I have a child, until that child can talk/walk/use the bathroom/sleep through the night/go to school, until I can retire, until I have grandchildren." We look back only to realize that each season flew by faster than it felt at the time, and we'll never get those precious days back. We can't relive them, we can only remember them.
And so we should choose to enjoy these days and not rush through them. To be thankful for however long they last. Because they'll only last so long. College is so only so many years. Children aren't children forever. Jobs come and go. And if we choose to fully embrace the season, our current stage in life, the circumstances in which we find ourselves, we can look back on them with fondness and not regret. We can relish in the memories rather than wish we would have enjoyed the time as we reminisce about the past. And when it gets tough, and when the grass looks greener, we say, "Lord, give me joy right where I am. Place in me a heart of gratitude. Help me make the most of this time until it's time to move forward so that I don't wish it away. Thank you for what you're doing and for what you're teaching me during this season. And more than anything, use it to mold and shape me into the person you're calling me to be so regardless of what I am doing, or where I am, you will be honored and glorified through me."
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