Just a Minute

My mom told me a funny story several months ago. Brooke had asked for something, and my mom told her "Just a minute." Brooke sighed heavily, and said- "I hope your minute isn't as long as mommy's minute." It made me laugh, but also made me stop and think- do I really do that? Life is so busy, and it's easy to get caught up in the daily stresses, but sometimes the things that are most important- like family- get lost in the shuffle. One of my favorite quotes is "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." So many times I'm frustrated because the kids want to play with me, when all I want to do is pick up the toys from the floor and put away laundry. But here's the thing- I don't want my kids to look back on their childhood and say that I was the mom obsessed with a clean house. I want them to remember that I was a loving mom who gave them my time and attention, with patience and care.

Sara Groves says it perfectly in her song, Just One More Thing. I listened to it in college, but it's taken on a whole new meaning now in my life. I'll leave you with a poem that I read on the wall of my OB's office of my very last prenatal checkup with Lydia. It still makes me tear up. I pray that I never forget the little things, because the "little things" are all that matter in the end.

                               Give me patience when little hands
                             Tug at me with ceaseless, small demands.

                                   Give me gentle words and smiling eyes
                                  To keep my lips from hasty, sharp replies.

                                    Let not fatigue, confusion or noise
                                  Obscure my vision of life's fleeting joys.

So when in years to come my house is still,

Beautiful memories its rooms may fill.