Moments...
Mike Quimby
Oh Summer, I have eagerly been awaiting your arrival. My dreaming of reading any book I want, drinking coffee in a real cup, gardening around my house, swimming, traveling, cookouts, camping trips and a days of leisure. But, now that you are here it seems somewhat bittersweet. For all of my fellow teacher friends the end of the school year brings so many extra loose ends which need to be tied up and very excited children who cannot wait for summer vacation. But it also means an ending. It means saying goodbye to 20 little faces who you’ve watched blossom and grow. It means letting them go onto their next adventure. My heart is always sad at the end of a school-year leaving my class.
As a momma now to two first graders, this one hit me harder than I expected. My little miracle boys finished their Kindergarten year. They love school and I am delighted with their progress. They’ve become little men who are each their own little person. Landon is our quirky old soul. He is an amazing reader, talks about numbers and loves to do summersaults. Then there’s our Jack. He is lively and always on the go, enjoys writing, is a good reader and has made great gains with his speech. And did I mention they are getting SOOOO big?
Then there is of course our Lil Miss Reagan. She had an amazing pre school teacher! Reagan is spunky, talks to us like she’s ten, likes to dance, make up songs and is quite a leader. Our Lil “Cheese” (as we call her) starts Pre Kindergarten this year. The thought of all of our children in school is quite overwhelming but also amazing. Everyone tells you how fast it goes and they are right. It happens in what seems like a blink of an eye. Minutes become hours, hours turn into a day, days become weeks, weeks become months and those months become years. But they all begin with moments. Which may really be seconds when we break it down. And as I have so many mixed emotions about how time cannot stand still, I am determined to celebrate and embrace the moments. Because I don’t get those back. Most mornings Mike makes me an espresso and we try to sit down for five minutes. Sometimes during that time we pray together or go through our schedule. While five minutes seems short those moments of connecting together set the stage for our day. It helps us be on the same page and partner in our crazy adventure of parenting and being married. Our time is precious even in the craziness of the day. The running around getting everyone dressed before school, making sure the shoes match and their lunch is in their backpacks. Cleaning up the milk which spilled from breakfast or stepping on legos. The sound of little feet in the morning running into our bedroom and jumping on our bed for morning snuggles, watching our kids get off the school bus and walking down the road with their backpacks on, working on Kindergarten research projects, painting fingernails every color of the rainbow, reading stories, making dinner, doing laundry and trying to find matching socks! Moments!!!!
So to you sweet summer, as I look at you from the beginning, my goal is to enjoy the little moments and celebrate the now. I want to not rush so much to the next things. I want to slow my mind day and embrace the Now. Even if the now doesn’t seem so great it is all part of this life God has planned for me. I have found the moments which seem unpleasant are often gifts of learning or appreciation. I want to open the gift of this very moment and embrace it! Because the next minute is coming no matter what I do.
So this summer as I am embracing moments I also want to fix my attention on God because He changes me from the inside out. (Romans 12:2) I want my eyes to see what He wants me to see. I want my mind to know what He wants me to know. I want my heart to beat with His ways. I want to see what He wants me to see in my moments!
Blessings to you this summer. May it be full of joy, relaxation, some yummy ice cream, even some cannon ball jumping, firefly catching, and listening to the wind blow through the leaves moments.