Slow days, fast years.

"There's one thing you'll find true about parenting - 

the days are so slow sometimes,

              but the years go by fast."

One of the elders at our church said this in passing to me in the weeks before we welcomed our firstborn. I had no context for grasping the depth of that statement.

I laughed it off at the time. But it is true. So achingly true.

...wait. Didn't I just bring her home from the hospital?!

Elizabeth is 7 1/2. WHAT. And after years of digestive troubles and being chronically underweight because her body wasn't handling food well...she's growing. I understand that whole "like a weed" analogy. Her appetite is robust, for the first time ever. She's sprouted about 4" in the last year, and she's finally up to a healthy weight. She is active: running, dancing, learning to ride a bike. It's been about 11 months since her cecostomy tube was put in place, and I am so thankful for the difference it's made in her quality of life. She & I pray every morning and thank the Lord profusely for modern medicine, the wisdom He gives the doctors, and the way He is healing her body day by day. Have you ever heard the prayers of a child who has learned to trust her God? It gives me goosebumps when she prays. Her prayers are often simple, direct, and out-of-this-world big.

God often reminds me through Elizabeth that my prayers can and should be more like hers - in faith that He is able, and in confidence that He will if it's what's best.

...her, too?

Abby just turned 6. For her birthday, she wanted to learn how to play "either the flute, the banjo, or the xylophone"...flute it is. She's been taking lessons for the last few weeks and is really making progress. The instructor thought maybe she'd be too young or too small to get the hang of blowing into the mouthpiece or managing the keys, and it is hard for her!, but she is learning all about the fruits of labor. When she puts in the 20 minutes a day to practice...she finds that making (the right) sound is easier and that reaching those last few keys waaaaaay down at the end of the flute comes just a little easier. I am SO thrilled for her. (And since I play the clarinet, we've been working a little to play together, and I am having a blast!) Other big milestones in the past few months: she has learned how to read. and read and read and read and read. There are few other things that will bring as much joy to my heart as hearing my children reading to me or each other. 

The Lord often reminds me through Abby that He a) enjoys the humor & sweetness of little ones, and b) I need to put aside cleaning or the computer more often and delight in these days. He also instructs me in the blessings of serving others & diligence - Abby's two most beautiful & prominent qualities.

Hannah is on the cusp of 3. For so long, her nickname has been "baby Hannah", but now - I can't call her that anymore! She is a little girl! Han is the second daughter to need extensive physical therapy, and after 2 years of it, it's hard to tell she was ever so far behind. She has mastered climbing stairs; she's also mastered talking. That was never a concern, though, in a home with two chatty older sisters. 

Her name means "grace & wisdom". I need gigantic amounts of both to parent well. She questions everything, and reminds me that my heavenly Father takes joy in my many questions and watching me grow in His care.

The last 7 1/2 years have just zipped by...one slow day at a time.

L to R, top to bottom: fall photos from each year 2006-2013!

Moms, you know what I mean. The days sometimes feel like they last for-ev-er. Especially days when you spend most of your time feeding, clothing, cleaning, correcting, rebuking, instructing, caring for a sick one, or in those seasons where you are just spiritually dry and wonder how in the world you will manage yourself, let alone little ones.

But then you blink, and they seem to age years. It makes me all the more thankful that I have eternity to look forward to - to know that even though these sweet years will soon be a memory, Lord willing I'll have forever to delight in the dear ones God blessed me with.

The verse that comes to mind is 1 Peter 3:8 - But beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 

Does anyone else feel the years go by more quickly than the days do? How do you relish the moments and capture the years as they fly by?

Thankful for the slow days,

for His glory!

~Lisha

I may be sharing this post at the following Link-up parties!

{Please comment & share this post if it's been a blessing to you!}