Seasons of Motherhood

The intense demanding season of motherhood is not forever. We need to have the wisdom to correctly judge what season we're in. You have not laid aside your dreams or your career forever. I have just weaned my last baby and I feel a little bit like somebody who has just come up for air in a river where I have been tumbling in the rapids and waves and waterfalls for a few years. In that intense season of mothering where there is no sleep and non-stop demands, where your baby or babies are dependant on you for everything, it feels like a major achievement just to make sure you don’t drown along the way. You grab a breathe whenever you sense that you have a bit of air on your face and then hold your head, roll with punches or with the flow, and try to make sure you don’t bang your head on a rock. Incredibly, in that tumbling season where the demand on you is a bit bigger than you can easily cope with, you are gaining incredible strength. It's like resistance training. If I liken those gasped breaths of air to moments with God, I know I gasped for dear life during that crazy season. Now, when I feel like I have slowed down and have space to breathe, my ability to find God - that essential oxygen - has only increased. I know how to value my time with him and to breathe deeply of His presence. As far as swimming goes, the rapid section of the river is probably not the time to attempt to learn water ballet. You will come to the end where the river is flowing a little more smoothly, there will be moments of slow floating, and moments of floating along a little faster. Not everything that you have planned for your life has to be achieved while you are tumbling down the rapids in that crazy section of the river where you’re not sure whether to swim up or down to get to the surface. For me that means that I can do some things now that I couldn’t do the way I wanted to in the last few years. I’ve started going to a ballet class. I've read big chunks of the bible everyday. I've sat through an entire church service - and heard every word of the sermon. We've had dinner parties for different groups of friends every Friday night this month. I've been offered a contract with an American publishing house for my book, making my future look very exciting. The point is, I’m not tumbling anymore. I can breathe. And it wasn’t that long ago that I started to have kids. The season is so very quick. Don’t miss it because you're trying to have last season’s body or next season’s achievements. Live in the moment. If there is one thing that motherhood should teach you its to appreciate the now. Life is longer than you think but it goes by quicker than you think. Make the most of every season, numbering your days and seasons correctly.