At the most recent General Conference of my church, there was an excellent talk on having joy in the journey. The speaker, the leader of my church, made several great points about raising children—and keeping perspective while doing that.
If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly.
As I type this, I’m sitting on a stained couch, next to a waist-deep pile of laundry, across the room from the nose-and-mouth prints on the entertainment center. I’ll go to bed only to wake up three or four times tonight to nurse Rebecca, then get up earlier than I want to to take care of her or Hayden.
And this is what I’ll miss? Yep, says this father, grandfather and great-grandfather. I think the thing that I like most about this quote is the aside of “to your surprise.” It shows that he knows what it’s like to be here.
I think, though, that even though we don’t care for hearing this, we all know this. During the difficult times, it might be hard to believe that we’ll miss all this. But during the good times, the peaceful times, the adorable times, we know that they won’t last. They can’t last. My little children will disappear before my eyes—they already are.
So every once in a while, the reminder that I’ll miss these days makes me value them a little more. How about you?
2 replies on “Joy in the journey part 1”
It’s true! I watch home videos and it makes me so sad. (and happy!)
Enjoy more and stress less!
Agreed. (Almost) Everytime I start to feel myself stress out because my baby is changing my plans or preventing me from meeting my goals, I remind myself to take a deep breath and enjoy the moment, the giggles, the antics, the demands to love and be loved. To give attention when she’s acting up and relish the attention she gives back.