Moment Enthusiast

I talk a whole bunch about moments.

Life is full of them.

Moments consist of so many different things. Each moment, someone is getting married. Someone is at work. Someone is having a baby. Someone is at the hospital with a dying loved one. Some moments are average and routine. Some are insanely busy. Others are incredibly boring. Some moments are hysterical. Others are devastating. Some moments are full of health and others are full of sickness. Some moments go as planned and others do not.

I love the variety that the culmination of moments brings.

I long to make all of the beautiful moments that fill my life tangible.

That’s why I take so many pictures.

I want to do something that will make the moments stay with me longer. I want to hold on to them because I know in a matter of seconds things will change. That same light won’t be shining through the trees in the same breathtakingly beautiful way. My children’s smiles will change. The expressions they make will mature.

Yes, other rich moments will take their places. And they may be just as good, or even better. But I hate that those things that bring me so much joy so quickly slip through my mind. I wish pictures could bottle up the smells and the feelings and the sounds of my life, never to be lost in my feeble memory.

As a mother, I recognize that the best moments are fleeting. This struck me recently when I dropped Blake off at his weekly Sunbeam class at church. He eagerly sat down next to his friend in a miniature chair in the classroom. I began to walk away, until I heard his sweet voice shout, "Mom! I forgot to give you a kiss and a hug!" He jumped out of his chair and paraded in front of his entire class and teachers to wrap his arms around my neck and smack his lips on mine. It made me dread the day that he will be embarrassed to show affection towards me.

With each moment, motherhood melds into something new. Some days I am a compassionate mother and I notice the sweetness of our children and can hardly stand not just kneeling down and hugging the guts out of those darling boys we call our own. On other days I am a frustrated mother as the toilet paper gets strewn across our house for the 56th time or the 17th morsel of food is chucked on the freshly mopped floor. Some days I am a tired mother after too many nights of waking up all night with children or staying up too late to get things done after those sleepy sweethearts are finally slumbering away in their beds. But most days I am a thankful mother as I take a moment to watch the interactions of our children swell up so much that it hurts. In those moments, I am reminded that I have the ultimate, most amazing job that could ever be.

I realize that there is no standing ovation that comes with the hard work of raising children and elevating families. But the rewards pour out when I soak in the moments with our children.

My brother picked up on that fact that I sound like a broken record when I talk about moments. Sitting in my email inbox today was a video he made using some of my "moments" quotes and pictures. I had no idea that he was using his editing skills to put the clips together. Even though I've drilled to the bone the idea of finding joy in simple moments, sometimes I need the reminder most of all.