Last night I found myself in the shower belting out the chorus to the country song that says “it won’t be like this for long, someday soon they will be all grown up and gone these days are gonna fly by so baby just hold on, it won’t be like this for long”. I sang it loud and proud with the advice of every older mother echoing in my ear, “Before you know it they will be gone, enjoy each day.” I always think that’s easy for them to say, their kids go to school and have friends and walk without running into the coffee table and busting their lip.
I have a one year old and the days don’t always fly by in fact sometimes I swear the minutes are longer than 60 seconds, especially close to nap time and when dad should walk in the door. Don’t get me wrong I love motherhood, I love it with a passion I didn’t know I had, but it’s hard. It takes discipline to be well… disciplined, and being thankful when dinner is burning and the baby is crying for the third consecutive hour and dad is stuck in Atlanta traffic well that my friends is an art.
Last time I spoke I realized that whenever I go speak I get a question that evokes the same answer. Last summer our pastor told the students in our church that greatness comes at a cost. It has stuck with me and I quote him on it about every time I with a new group of girls. They want to know if being a Christian in college was hard, they want to know if saving yourself for marriage is hard, and they want to know how to handle the everyday pressures of 18. I have the same answer, greatness comes at a cost. God is calling each of us to greatness but it will cost us something, for me it will cost my attitude, my desire to be independent, and sometimes my social life. To be a truly great mom will cost me. Which is fine but what we want to know is will it be worth the cost, yes sometimes quickly but sometimes it will be years. I don’t think I told my mom a true thank you for all she had done until I birthed my own little girl. I say thank you often now along with asking the same question of, “how did you have four of us?!”
To be a strong believer at 14, 15, 16 will cost you, in some areas more than others, but oh how you will gain. The road of the faithful is narrow and sometimes lonelier but the gaping road of destruction is well traveled and the destination is always the same. So yes in all stages of life we have a choice before us, at 16 it might be to skip the party and not sleep with your boyfriend but faithfulness is the same at all ages. One choice at a time we decide to be different. We decide to live the life God called us to instead of simply breathing.
For me it’s turning off the third episode of Sesame Street, laying my frustration at the cross, and loving my daughter at her fragile little age even when her absolute favorite word is “uh uh”(she hasn’t quite mastered no but I’m sure it’s coming). We surrender to the things we once thought would fill us up for the eternal things that promise to deliver because with Jesus we get to breathe in grace and love knowing there is hope in all things.
The good news is a life lived for Jesus is always worth the cost.
