Reflecting

Someone dear to my heart gave me a great piece of advice recently and it has caused me to do a lot of reflecting.

The advice basically boiled down to this....

You will never have this day with your children again.
Tomorrow they will be a little bit older then they were today.
Today is a gift.
Breather and notice. Smell and touch them.
Study their faces and little feet and pay attention.
Relish the charms of the present.
Enjoy today, mama, it will be over before you know it.

It's funny how words can effect you.

These words aren't new to me, I have heard them before and taken them to heart.

As much as might I want to, I don't have the ability to stop time.

All we have our these moments, and they all add up into something bigger....

Life.

Lately, I have been struggling with a few things.

This journey of parenting that I naively thought would get easier just isn't getting any easier than it was during those years of sleepless nights and seemingly endless sickness, temper tantrums, and diapers.

Today, we struggle with something a bit different...

raising our children and teaching them all about what this crazy life is like.

There have been a few bumps along the way, but we are riding them out and learning together.

I realize that although these 'bumps' are difficult and sometimes feel so insurmountable that we can't ride over them, they are simply what they are...

bumps.

They are a part of our crazy life and without them I wouldn't be able to completely comprehend my favorite part of the amazing advice I was given....

Today is a gift.

We have had a lot of great today's, here's hoping for many more....