Over the past several years, I’ve noticed a trend in the themes of many of the blog posts and articles popping up on my social media feeds. The theme? Moms of young kids who have been stopped by someone (usually an older person) who reminded them to “cherish every moment” while their children are young, and who feel the need to revolt at such an admonishment. “NO! Motherhood is hard and full of lots of challenging, stressful, difficult moments! How dare someone guilt me into cherishing every single moment!! These darn older people are out of touch!!!” (OK, so I’m paraphrasing there. But you get my drift. ;)).
On one hand, I understand this response. Mommying little ones is really, really hard. There are a ton of stressful and difficult moments! I know this—I’m living it! For all the amazing moments that make my heart burst, there are many moments where I want to collapse into a pile of tears. It is good to acknowledge that our life isn’t Pinterest-perfect, that we need Jesus in every one of those moments, and that His grace is sufficient in our weakness.
The thing is…what if these older folks are onto something?
What if they’re not trying to “guilt us” when they tell us to cherish every moment, but are reminding us that these tough times are fleeting, and that finding the good in them is worth it?
What if we acknowledged that they possess something we don’t yet have: perspective?
What if God is using them as a mouthpiece to whisper to us the Scriptural call to “be joyful always”?
What if, instead of bristling in defense, we stopped, breathed, and thanked God for that reminder to choose joy?
Just a thought.
Hang in there, moms. ❤