I woke up today with a longing to just scoop up my daughters and hold them. I want to just look them deep in the eyes and study them. Memorize who they are right now, today. I have been paying attention lately to how big they're getting. Oh, how I enjoy them! Of course there are the moments (hours, days) of struggle. We are human. We blow it. We have selfish natures. However, these girls of mine are delightful.
We just moved into a new home. We were in Marina for 9+ years. CSUMB campus housing was our way of life. Eating in the Dining Commons, participating in community wide programs and going for glorious walks on the oak tree-lined trails.
In August, we relocated to Castroville. It was just going to be a month or two, staying at our dear friends' church. The loft above the church office and gym was huge! We made it our cozy home for 7 months. The laughter and bonding that took place there was fantastic! We grew closer to each other as well as to the wonderful Coffelt family who hosted us. Oh, how we will miss seeing them every day!
Now, as we are creating a new home, I find that it is more work than I remember. I tend to want things done completely, perfectly and NOW. Not a very charming trait for a mama. I have barked a few orders here and there, "Do your school work." "Clean up this mess!" "We won't get settled until everyone helps out around here." It hasn't been pretty. I have also had some good laughs with my girls, but I noticed that I seem to have set a deadline for when we should have everything out of boxes and that deadline has come and gone. Why do I do things like that to myself? We JUST moved in, I need to give myself some grace.
So, today, I woke up extra early. I had a wonderful time in the Word and, oddly enough, God brought me to two separate verses with the very same theme. He is like that.
2 Corinthians 4:18, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal." Oh yeah. Hmmm....the verse behind my whole "Eternity Driven" name here at this blog. Too often I need these kind of reminders.
The second verse was Colossians 3:2-3, "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."
When my oldest daughter, now a beautiful 14-year-old, was just a baby, my sister-in-law gave me a wonderful gift. It is a framed picture with an important message for me to remember. It goes something like this: "Cleaning and scrubbing (and unpacking boxes) can wait 'til tomorrow For babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow, So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep."
So, today, hopefully every day, I am going to purpose to remember what really matters. The stuff will all get done eventually. Loving this precious family of mine needs to be my top priority. Truly, it is. Sometimes I just need the reminder.
