This morning, as I sat on my son's bed to awaken him, I gathered his sleepy little body into my arms for a short cuddle. At four years old he can still sit on my lap and rest his head on my chest, and he likes to wrap his arms around my neck in big bear hugs. What bliss, I thought, as I held him tight and smelled his little-boy scent. These are my favorite moments of motherhood, the ones like right now.
Now. A word that means just for a moment--fleeting, fast, over with the next breath. It struck me then how sad the word "now" can be. Right now I am holding him, I realized, but in just a few moments this now will be over forever. In a few more breaths it will be gone.
This realization is one of the great sorrows of motherhood, I guess. I'm sure most mothers face such a moment at some point and feel the same stab through the heart that I did. Thankfully, God has not left us mothers without more lovely "nows" in the future as consolation. I'm sure that many wait in my tomorrows as the mother of a growing, healthy son--special, delightful, deliciously memorable. I've certainly had many with my daughters as they've grown. They will come when the time is right.
But this "now," the one I received during the quiet autumn morning of today, the "now" that glows in my mind this evening as I write...this one in all its poignancy lingers to remind me to cherish all my lovely "nows" as jewels to be tucked away and treasured, never to be taken for granted.
Now. A word that means just for a moment--fleeting, fast, over with the next breath. It struck me then how sad the word "now" can be. Right now I am holding him, I realized, but in just a few moments this now will be over forever. In a few more breaths it will be gone.
This realization is one of the great sorrows of motherhood, I guess. I'm sure most mothers face such a moment at some point and feel the same stab through the heart that I did. Thankfully, God has not left us mothers without more lovely "nows" in the future as consolation. I'm sure that many wait in my tomorrows as the mother of a growing, healthy son--special, delightful, deliciously memorable. I've certainly had many with my daughters as they've grown. They will come when the time is right.
But this "now," the one I received during the quiet autumn morning of today, the "now" that glows in my mind this evening as I write...this one in all its poignancy lingers to remind me to cherish all my lovely "nows" as jewels to be tucked away and treasured, never to be taken for granted.
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