Fleeting and Beautiful

They are so little.  She’s four-and-a-half, full of wonder and awe and ready to explore and pretend and create fun wherever she goes.  He’s three-and-a-half, all boy but with a twist of tender, ready to play cars and ball and learn how to surf...even in Wisconsin.  Little lady is nineteen months; she’s bursting with energy and laughter and brightness and mischief, loving the sand and the water (especially drinking it).

Three small sweet people.  Three little souls entrusted to our care for a short time.  I want to savor each moment with them on this trip.  Last year, I was so sick that life, in general was just a blur.  Last year, Addie Beth wasn’t even crawling yet & our schedule worked around her naps and feedings.  Owen was just getting potty trained.  Tali still took naps.  They’ve grown so much and something about being with them on vacation just makes me more aware than usual of all the growing that’s happened.

What is it about sensing the passing of time that just makes a mother’s heart ache?  I’m swallowing hard as I write, remembering years past in this place and knowing those moments can’t be repeated.  That’s it, I think; it’s that these days are so unforgiving, so relentless like a sunset that, no matter how hard you try to slow it, just keeps slipping away into the night.  That’s how the days fly by as a mama of three small children-beauty to be savored that just keeps on slipping by.

So it might only be Sunday, just barely the beginning of this vacation, but I’m gonna get all sentimental even now at the start in hopes that I can magically freeze time, or at least freeze it with my lens.  Today, I will live up these moments that He’s amazingly given AWAKE and AWARE that they are gifts to praise Him for.