Time is the Strangest Thing

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  ~ 2 Peter 3:8

How it can be the middle of March already? Have you seen those little green sprouts in people's yards?

While I'm thrilled for spring and warmer weather to come, it's as if the calendar is mocking me. "You silly woman, you're behind - again!"

Time…the clock, the calendar, the seasons, the rising and setting of the sun. 

Our finite minds need to measure it. Even still, it can trick us. 

For example, when I was in my twenties and even my thirties, I thought my fifties were eons away. 

Eons.

Now that I’m half way through my fifties, I don’t dare make the same mistake and pretend that I can’t imagine my seventies. Lesson learned. I can't stop a new decade or even slow it down.

But I do sometimes wonder how it is that I arrived here so quickly. 

My husband Jeff and I have been parents for 31 years. (The most blessed years of my life for sure) So it makes sense to me to approach this mystery not by age, but by parenting seasons.

If you’re not a parent, I hope you don't mind indulging me this simple analogy . . . 

When our two sons were little and I was a stay at home mom, time did not fly by. 

Repeat. Did not fly by. 

That’s because I was trying to do 100 things in an hour. One hundred seemingly necessary things.

Raising babies and toddlers was precious to me, yes, but undeniably exhausting. I’d fall into bed wondering how I was going to do it all over again the next day. 

When our sons were in elementary school and old enough to be busy with sports and music and friends, time sped up. 

It was great fun to witness their games, their concerts, and have their friends over. There were meals together and stories about school, and chats at bedtime. That parenting season was rich and full, and for the most part, seemed to drift by at an enjoyable pace. 

Which brings us to high school. Time didn’t just fly by. It was more like a blur. 

Our van went in the driveway, out of the driveway, in the driveway, out of the driveway. 

Thank goodness for photos that remind us of all their events, their special moments, their milestones. Those photos assure me, "Yes, it all really happened."  

It's as if time was our king and we were the subjects. Meals together at home happened less often. Moments for just the four of us were rare. 

And college? How did time feel during their college years?

Sort of like watching fireworks. You wait excitedly for them to begin. Once they start, you wait for the next reunion with them to burst into the sky. Those years began with great anticipation and ended with pride, clouded by the disbelief that they were over. 

(I totally sound like my Dad right now! He was a reflective soul who pondered things like time.) 

It's not that time is necessarily our enemy. But it does march on. There's no changing that. And eventually, we all find ourselves stumped at how quickly it passed us by. 

But that's what makes time so precious. We know it never stops for us, and so we do our best to make friends with it.

To give each day a chance to matter.  

With all the kindness in my heart, I pray that today you will witness someone's laughter. Better yet, be the one that makes them laugh. Or dry their tears. Listen for a little while. See beauty and point it out. Sing in the kitchen. Dance with your child. Show appreciation for your mate. Reach out to a friend. Smile at the elderly person in the grocery store. 

Above all, pray. Thank God for all of it. The mundane, the spectacular, the difficult and the easy.

Because all of it marches on. 

The sound of your laughter, your smile

These things are never changing

But Monday I blink, and it's Friday

I wish we could slow it down

Saturday, Sunday, now Monday

Another week starting over

Seconds to minutes to hours

Here's what I've found

Time is illusion

Time is a curse

Time is all these things and worse

But our time is now, oh yes

our time is now

Let us sing before our time runs out

(lyrics from Our Time is Now by Amy Grant)

Where to Look for Words of Gold

If you have kids, then you know they usually speak without filters. Thank goodness! Navigating what we say gets more complicated as we age, and that unabashed verbal freedom is very short-lived.

Our oldest son Grant was four years old and becoming interested in what he wore. It was Sunday and I had laid his clothes out for church. "Mommy, I don't wanna wear these!" He wanted to wear a pair of shorts and shirt that I deemed worthy only of playing in the backyard. Needless to say, I refused his request and a few tears later, he was in the car wearing the outfit I had chosen.

He was quiet most of the ride. When we were almost to church, he asked me a question in the voice I knew to be contemplative. "Mommy, what does Jesus say we should wear to heaven?" (You know where this is going, right?) "Oh honey, Jesus doesn't care what we wear to heaven. He'll just be happy to see us." Grant waited a few seconds before asking, "Then why does He care what we wear to church?" Bam. Words of gold from a four year old!

I thought about what our son had said and it inspired me to change the rules at our house. The kids could wear whatever they wanted, as long as it was clean with no holes. Didn't match? Didn't matter. Play clothes to church? Sure. My least favorite shirt on school picture day? Why not? 

This new approach halted arguments about what they were to wear. But more importantly, Grant's words taught me that my own pride had been steering the ship. 

Words of gold often come when we least expect them. It's a mindset to be looking and listening for their arrival. Could we easily find them in an Instagram post?  Sure. But I've found that the source makes all the difference.

Let's face it. Words from my son or someone I know will last a lot longer in my heart. 

What words of gold have stuck with you? Did they come from someone or somewhere you least expected? Share your gold below...