Thanksgiving Reflections...

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone and now the countdown to Christmas begins. I can't believe how fast this year has passed, it is like I blinked and the year was gone. I am always amazed by how quickly time flies when I am wrapped up in children activities, school events, holidays, birthdays, travel days, etc. After the children were born the clock seemed to speed up, it is like I never had anything to measure time with before, and now I have two walking reminders of how quickly our lives are passing. I measured Lydia on her door frame a couple of weeks ago (because that is our tradition on birthdays) and was amazed to see that she had grown over 2 inches just this past year. You couldn't really see the growth day to day, but there it was staring back at me from the door frame. I still think of her as small and "the baby" of the family, but she isn't a baby anymore and she isn't small. I looked around the table at Thanksgiving dinner and saw my husband's cousin who I remember as an infant and now she is a grown, military, working, independent woman. I see the new baby cousins that are just infants and as I held one of them, all of a sudden I realized how far removed from that baby stage that I have become, for years we had the only little children, the only babies, and now a new generation is beginning. As I carried that baby around, I thought about the fact that it has been 5 years since I changed my own child's diapers, 6 years since I had to make my own child a bottle or rocked them to sleep. I don't carry them in my arms hardly at all anymore. I no longer have to pack a bag or plan a schedule for the holiday meals and travel. We just hop in the car, strap on the seat belts, head out. No worrying about sleep schedules or formula or whether we remembered the burp clothes, bottles, change of clothes. It was a bittersweet thought, because while I sometimes miss that stage and I am sad that it went by so quickly and sometimes we are so caught up in it that we don't always appreciate how short it really is, I am also thankful for the stage we are in now. I love this independent, growing up, enjoying friends and movies, sleepovers and activities stage. Each stage is a gift, and they all have precious things to enjoy.
This Thanksgiving I watched my girls make the food selections for our Thanksgiving meal. I watched them stand at the counter peeling vegetables, arranging fruit, setting the table, and serving the drinks. I am in awe of how quickly they are growing up and changing. One of our family members, who don't get to see them very much, asked me who they got their personalities from, especially Emma, because she didn't seem to have much of my husband's families personality. I kind of joked about it and laughed it off, because I couldn't really tell if she was being serious or if it was supposed to be a compliment or not, but later when I thought about it, I realized that Emma has really changed a lot in the last year, she has grown up a lot and she tries to act more like an adult and copy the adults she sees. She no longer really plays or runs around the table sitting on laps and giving hugs, she is more reserved and plays with her Kindle and babysits the babies. She talks about school and shopping and rolls her eyes when we pick at her and embarrass her. They don't act the same around my husband's family as they do at home, they are overwhelmed I believe, by how many people are there and the fact that some of them they only see once in a while, so they are more reserved and quiet, but the question about their personalities got me to thinking and yes, Emma does get hers from me, she talks like me, and thinks like me, she is artsy and a book worm, like me. She can be sarcastic and mouthy...like me. Jason says it is like having 2 of me at different ages and he always says she is a little copy of me, so yes, she is probably much more me in personality than my husbands family. Lydia on the other hand, is her Daddy made over. She is funny and technical like him, she is active and can't be still, like him. She is always thinking and inventing and taking things apart to analyze them, like him. She is also stubborn and strong willed and quick tempered.....like him. They each have a part of us in them and as the years pass and they continue to grow, I am reminded even more how short our time with them is, and how little time we really have to teach them, shape their character, grow their hearts and influence their lives. Our time is passing quickly, another Thanksgiving, another Christmas, another year almost gone, as I reflect on all I have to be thankful for and how quickly life goes by, I am reminded to never take a single minute for granted, not to waste time on the things that don't matter, and to enjoy every minute with my family and my children... Embrace the changes, encourage the growth, love them in each stage of life, cherish the time I have with them, and most of all- Be thankful every minute, every day, for everything!
 "Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"
Ephesians 5:20