Lately, I have been thinking a lot about how quickly time passes by. The evidence is all around me.
Yesterday, I sat in the parking lot of King’s Gyros with my husband on an impromptu lunch date. We had to pick up the van and decided while we were out, we may as well make a date of it. The kids were at home doing school work, and this was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.
As I was sitting there, I saw a mom in a minivan, parked just caddy corner from us. She had a child that looked about preschool age standing close to her, as she lifted the baby out of the carseat, and placed her into the stroller, she reached for her son’s hand.
Seeing her felt so familiar, and also so far away. Wasn’t it just yesterday I was toting four small children with me wherever I went? Wasn’t it just yesterday I was grabbing small hands in parking lots and wrestling with carseats and strollers? It couldn’t have been that long ago when people would look at me with a mixture of joy and amusement as I walked into a store, all four children in tow, and they would say, “Looks like you have your hands full!” And I would reply something cheesy, yet important so that the kids knew they weren’t a nuisance, but a joy. “I sure do! It’s so much fun!” and โI’m so lucky!”, or something along those lines.
It feels like yesterday, and it feels so long ago. Time is funny like that. Isn’t it?
You don’t really feel that much older on the inside, but the outside tells you differently. I went on a run yesterday and have had a pain since then that I’ve never had before. There are wrinkles and lines forming where there once was smooth skin, and the grays are multiplying like a wet Mogwai.
And when I see my children walk down the stairs in the morning, it seems their eyes keep getting closer and closer to my eye level – and at some point, may even inch higher than mine.
Yesterday, as I watched the mom gathering her young children, my husband and I began talking about those days that seem so far away and at the same time so near that I can remember the feel of their little hands, and the smell of their skin.
And as we talked, I felt something begin to awaken inside of me.
“I want spontaneity and adventure. I want to live in a way that embraces opportunity. I want my life to be a sum of wonderful and incredible yeses,” I told him.
It isn’t sad that time is passing by. It is a joy and a gift. I have seen my children enter into each of these stages of life. I have watched them grow and change, and have seen their little bodies and souls becoming who they are meant to be. What an incredible opportunity that has been. And what an incredible opportunity it is.
Life is filled with endless possibilities. I want to live my life embracing the ones that come my way, and searching for adventure in the ordinary moments. I want to live in the present in such a way that I notice the simple beauty – the feel of the wind on my cheeks, the smell of fresh coffee brewing in the morning, the taste of chocolate, the sound of music.
There is so much joy to be found. There are great adventures to be had. The opportunities exist all around us.
God, help me to be aware of all of the beauty in this world. Help me to live my life in a way that is glorifying to you. Give me wisdom and help me to discern what to say yes to. I want to live a life of adventure and of joy. Of surrender and of gratitude.
I would love to here what you think. Please feel free to comment below.