The Days Are Long...
I can’t begin to tell you the number of times in the last few years that people have told me, “Enjoy them while they’re little – they grow up so fast.”
As a mother of young children, it seems I can’t even step out of the house without a random stranger reminding me of this.
Yet to be completely honest, it can be very hard to be in this sort of a “carpe diem . . . seize the day!” mindset. Most of my days seem anything but “fast.”
Many of my days are spent at home, repeatedly cleaning chubby grubby hands, changing dirty diapers, wiping away large crocodile tears, and being a figurative referee between very vocal toddlers.
While I know there is truth in what these strangers at the grocery store, library, etc., keep telling me, it’s hard to fully grasp this reality in the daily grind of motherhood.
Early on in my days as a mother I discovered another quote that I could much more easily relate to: The days are long, but the years are short.
I live with this quote in the forefront of my brain. I’m pretty sure I have written it in every single baby shower card I’ve given since the day I heard it. This quote better captures the paradox of this season of motherhood for me than any other I’ve heard.
Yet tonight as I sat on the carpet of my youngest child’s room playing with light-up singing cars and a (very) mini-garage, the quote struck me in a difference sense . . . a broader sense.
My days may seem long, but my life truly is short.
This thought was immediately followed by another “quote,” one that is God-inspired and written by a Psalmist thousands of years ago: “So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).
I doubt anyone would deny the true cliché that life is short. But I also reckon many people would admit they don’t live their lives this way, as the daily grind often seems so front and center.
Yet the Bible tells us that in living with the perspective of numbering our days, we “get a heart of wisdom.” We will become wise stewards of our time on earth – over every one of our days God has written for us in His book (Psalm 139).
So while I still can easily relate to the quote “The days are long, but the years are short” when it comes to motherhood in an earthly sense, I can’t look at it the same overall.
While the days do seem long, the truth is that the years are short . . . and incredibly so in light of eternity.
Do you live your life with an eternal perspective, remembering your days are numbered? Or are you deceived by the seeming longevity of your days?
– Mallory, LIFE Staff