Today my little munchkin, my son, is 7 months old. This has been one of the most fun times of my life! Watching his personality come out, grow, and learn new things and watching my wife being an amazing mother (and making me fall in love with her all over again)!As I reflect on this time, I think of a conversation I had after he was born. I was talking with a good friend who has children of his own and I said, "I can't wait til Benan's walking and talking and I can wrestle and play catch with him!"
He then challenged me saying, "Collin, when my son was born I said the same thing. The problem with that is I missed out on the first year of his life waiting for that time. Enjoy him now. Don't miss anything. I wish I could have that first year back."
Ummmm, GULP. I quickly repented for that statement, that's for sure. I took his advice to heart, and I'm glad I did! I've been enjoying every moment. Even the late nights, the days he only wants mama, singing Itsy Bitsy Spider over and over, and the times the only thing I can do to keep him from crying is holding him and walking around. I'm soaking it all in!
GOD's used this time to teach me something I've missed for a long time. ENJOY NOW! Live in the moment. How many times do we say, "I can't wait til..." or "When I..." or "I wish I could...". Whatever the statement, we all do it! We live for tomorrow when tomorrow never comes. We can only live today! We can only live right now, in the present. I'm learning to embrace the now times, even the sucky parts. Once they're gone, we can't get those moments back. I've actually made an effort to change my verbiage as well. Instead of the previous statements, I've started saying things like, "I'm excited for..." and "I plan to...". There's nothing wrong with planning, I think it's necessary. But is our planning and over planning causing us to live in the plans opposed to enjoying what's going on around us? It's a question I've been asking myself for the last 7 months. And I'm starting to learn to enjoy life, where I am, at that time, no matter the circumstances, living in the present, in His Presence.
Thanks Jason!
