SOCIAL MEDIA

Thoughts on the Changing of Life's Seasons

Monday, November 14



The older I get, the more I appreciate the more moderate seasons. This year, I am downright in love with Fall. Of course as a homeschooler, summer doesn't hold the excitement that it probably would if Aiden was in school all year. And winter? Winter is for the birds (or rather I wish I could migrate south like a bird when it arrives!). Give me Fall and Spring and I am a happy girl. 

I definitely feel like my season of life the past year or so has been anything but a moderate season. It feels like it has been an endless cycle of difficult times and challenging situations. Just over the past week, it seems as if things are finally starting to change a bit. Like the promise of falling leaves, I can see signs of a quieter time popping up around me. This Fall I see signs of change in places other than the trees, though. I see it in the changing smile of a little boy who is growing up. As he loses his baby teeth, he also seems to be losing some of his dependence on me. That can be hard on a mama. I have struggled with it over the first half of this year, and it has taken until now for me to start accepting the idea of having a boy who is not quite my baby anymore. 

My changing relationship with Aiden has challenged me as a mother, but it has also provided opportunities for me to look at who I am as a wife - and as a women beyond the walls of our home. When he was little, I was so consumed by the (often exhausting) need to be "on" 24/7 that I definitely lost focus a bit in other areas. Now, I am seeing glimpses of how someday I will find myself without a child needing daily attention, and it makes me think of how I invest my time in other areas. I don't regret for a moment devoting myself fully to the role of mother, but I do see how perhaps having that singular focus left other areas of life unattended. I am entering into a new season of life, and with the changing of seasons always comes some maintenance and preparation. 

I have definitely felt moved to spend a good part of that preparation time investing in my marriage, and concentrating on how I can grow as a wife moving into this new season. Parenting can crowd out some important things like intentional time together if we aren't careful. This week I started trying to make more of an effort to really connect with my husband by getting up super early to have coffee and pray with him before he leaves for work. Aiden is such a night owl that evenings have never been easy for me and Matt to have time together. I wish it hadn't taken me so long to realize that one possible answer was for me to just get up earlier. I am not super excited about being up so early, but it is certainly worth it to have that face time and prayer time each day. 

It may seem a bit premature to be thinking about what life will be like for me and Matt when Aiden is grown. After all, he is only six years old! Yet I know that taking better care of our marriage now is about more than preparing for the day when we (theoretically) become "empty nesters." It is also about having a unified vision for our family as we continue to move into the territory of raising a child who has his own ideas and emotions and (someday all too soon) hormones to deal with. Gone are the toddler days when discipline was mostly about distraction and redirection. Now we have this huge task of providing this little boy with deeper understanding of what it means to live life as a child of God. This is such an important time for us to be firmly united as husband and wife, and dedicated to promoting family unity. 

While life is by no means easy right now, I do feel like I am more at peace perhaps than I have been for a while now. It isn't anything I can put my finger on, but I know that having the peace of God is way past my understanding most of the time. I find myself very conscious of how precious each day is lately, and how I want to really focus on living instead of just getting through each day. Whether that means an extra game of chess, a trip to the park, or just silly snuggles and stories, I know that these precious days with a little boy counting on me will not last forever. Like the vibrant orange leaves on my favorite autumn tree, I need to appreciate them now. And all the better if I do so with my amazing husband right beside me. Families are such an incredible blessing, no matter the season! (But I could still live without winter coming anytime soon... ha!)


10 comments :

  1. Good for you! Even though I am not a mom myself, I have seen the pressure and hard work of being a mom through mine. I hope to take that lesson from her and you (from what I read in your insights) so I become a better parent myself in the future!

    Abby of GlobalGirlTravels.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awww, I love this post so much <3 And also that you've been getting up a bit earlier to spend some quality time with your hubby in the mornings. I feel as though it's so important for couples to connect, especially after they have children when priorities shift (understandably). Sounds as though you have created a really strong foundation in your home.

    XOXO and thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. Hope you have a beautiful week ahead :)

    ~*Charlotte

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love that you are making time to pray together. That is so important. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is a fabulous post! Thank you for sharing. I don't have kids yet, but my mom always said that this was so important. She and my dad continued to date all while I was growing up and they are still so in love today. It's really sweet to watch, and my husband and I are going to make those same efforts when we have children of our own.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very sweet. I wish I could be more excited about fall but I find each year as the temperatures get cooler and the days get shorter my depression and anxiety tend to get worse, so it's usually more of a struggle to get through fall and winter than it is in spring and summer!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I can totally relate. It can be tough to weather the difficult seasons of life. We had a great sermon on this topic a few sundays back at church :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my goodness! I so loved this! I don't even know you personally and I feel this immense amount of pride for you doing this. I don't have kids but this is exactly the way that I always desire to be if God blesses me with a husband a children. To have that healthy balance and not get lost in just being a great mom and ending up consumed by it. I applaud you and admire you for having the vision to be able to see that although you are a mom, that you're still an individual and a wife. And God still aha things specifically just for you. And it's so healthy for you and your marriage for your husband to invest time together and to think about the fact that one day your son will be gone. I loved this!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree that the more "moderate" seasons seem to grow on me as I age! Fall is a beautiful season and I try not to rush right through it into Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Seasons apply to weather, childhood, marriage and so much more. I commend you for recognizing the opportunity to connect with your husband early in the morning. Be blessed,

    ReplyDelete
  10. I find that each time my boys reach a new milestone my husband and I readjust our relationship. It's nice that my boys are old enough to stay home alone for small increments of time and we often make a date night out of grocery shopping or just running errands. It's always bittersweet to see them grow and know they need me less and less but that just means I'm doing my job right.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! Your support and encouragement are priceless!

Instagram