Savoring the sweetness of the day...

I am a member of a wonderful Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group that meets every other Friday. For the first 5 years of my life as a mom, I was not a member of this group. In fact, I really didn't do much for just myself, and it kind of started to take a toll on me. So, I was thrilled when it dawned on me one day that I was no longer working on Fridays, and I could join this MOPS group. I initially thought it would be a way for me to simply meet other young moms. It turned out to be so much more. Yes, it's a nice way to take some time for myself. For 3 hours, twice a month, I get to eat a meal uninterrupted by my children, I get to drink a full cup of coffee while it's still hot, I get to be with other women who are going through the same things I'm going through, and I get to sit still and relax. I get to pray, talk, listen, cry, laugh, share, and drink more hot coffee with 80+ women. My group has 2 mentor moms; women who have raised their own children and who now want to help young moms by sharing their wisdom and experience. This morning at my meeting, one of my group's mentor moms read an article written by our church's Senior Pastor. The article may have been directed more towards men, but she thought it was something that needed to be read to our group of women. Here is what she read:

"If we do not take time for ourselves, here is what will happen: We will stop wanting to. If we do not take time to feel the things we are supposed to be feeling, we will stop feeling them, because it will be more convenient not to. Yes, we will be more efficient. But inside, we will be almost dead. We will become addicted to the busyness that has become our lives, unable to feel at home unless we are running at top speed. Our families will make their lives without us, and will find their comforts elsewhere. We will be gone, and we won't even know that it has happened.

You must assert your need to gather strength from the right places and people, healthy places and people, or you may wind up gathering it from the wrong ones. God called you into family life. He did not call you into this role in order that you might become angry and sick and dead inside. God called you to this life, and not just any life, an abundant life. Not every day is a wonderful day. But every day belongs to you. Every day is a gift to you from a gracious God. Reclaim your days! Find their joy and savor their sweetness, even if you must do so through tears. Don't let another single day pass in a blur of responsibility. Even one day is far too precious to waste. Because once it is gone, you can never get it back."

When our mentor mom was finished reading those words, I looked across the room full of young moms, and I thought to myself that it seemed like I was not the only mom there feeling as if she was reading those words just for me to hear. She continued by adding that as young moms, we only have 4 years with our preschoolers before they start Kindergarten. She asked for the mothers in our group who had a child already in school to think about how quickly the first 4 years of that child's life went by... did it seem like it was all a blur? Silence fell over the room... She charged us with reclaiming our days... to find their joy and savor their sweetness! She urged us to take time for ourselves, to feel exactly what we are supposed to feel, and to not allow ourselves to become addicted to busyness. And she stressed the importance of not allowing another single day to pass in a blur of responsibility. That's probably good advise for us all...

Savoring the sweetness of the day,
Patty