Trillia Newbell has a great piece over at Desiring God called “Our Children for Our Joy.”
She writes:
I dropped my son off at his school and yelled my usual through the rolled down window, “I love you. Make good choices. Obey your teacher.” As I began to roll up the window and drive away, my little first grader took his small hand to his mouth and blew me a kiss.
It was like everything stopped at that moment.
I realized how quickly this season would last. Would he blow me a kiss when he’s 16 years old? I don’t know. I blew him a kiss back and he waved to me, mouthing the words “Bye, Mom.” I was overwhelmed. I wished I could freeze that point in time.
I’m sure many moms have had that same experience. From there Newbell moves on to ponder the gift of children and our tendency to treat them as tasks to manage. “Our children are not tasks to complete, but gifts to enjoy. And we do this by remembering that they are truly gifts from God” she writes. Unless we constantly think of our children as blessings, when you’re knee-deep in a week’s worth of laundry or that rebellious heart in your 2 year old rears it’s head, it’s difficult to see the gift.
She ends the article this way:
Our children won’t be our little children forever. Let’s enjoy these days that God has given us. They are his gifts, glimmers of his goodness, which leads us to say with Lewis, “What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary sparkles are like this!”
This is a good reminder for us as we seek to train our children in the fear of the Lord in the midst of the dailiness of life. Don’t forget to enjoy them. They have been given to us for our joy. You can read the whole article here.
What kinds of things to do you enjoy most about your children? Share in the comments below.
Photo courtesy of Torrey Wiley
