Time is going so fast.
Our baby boy is only five days old and I already wish I could stop time. Everyone told me that raising kids goes fast but I didn’t believe them… until I had kids. I have watched eight years of my oldest child’s life fly by. Each passing month feels like a week, each week feels like a day, and each day feels like a minute. As chaotic as life can be raising small kids, I wish I could slow it down or freeze time nearly every day.
Don’t Wish These Years Away
For those who are raising young kids at the same time I am, there are a few things we need to be reminded of:
First, even though we are physically exhausted, we are spending our lives to raise souls. God entrusted us with these little people and they are ultimately His creation for His glory. We are to steward them and raise them in such a way that brings God honor and pleasure. The tired moments all add up to be moments of spending our life for the right reasons.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whether we eat or drink, whatever we do, do it for the glory of God.” This means that even wiping noses or backsides, clearing off tables or cleaning up floors, disciplining for hitting, or teaching them to serve — whatever we do, as tired as we may be — we do it for the glory of God.
Second, we only get this season once. I know it sounds trite, but if you’ve been raising kids for any amount of time, you know, it goes fast! As much as we wish we could rewind the clock, we can’t. Those moments when we want to take back what we said, we can’t. The times when we want to redo that season, we can’t. All we can do is learn from the past and keep pressing on toward the upward calling of knowing Christ and helping the little ones we raise to do the same (Hebrews 12:1-4).
Wishing away the little years, or any stage of child raising for that matter, is not the right attitude. Rather, we should have a total abandonment to do our best at raising the kids well in that specific season, teaching them to obey what Christ has taught and commanded (Matt. 28:19-20) and accept the fact that this season will pass soon. It can feel like some of the stages of raising a kid require more reliance on the Holy Spirit’s power than other stages, but the truth is that all of them require God’s divine power.
Third, the calling to raise kids is a missionary calling, of sorts. Your mission field is the home and the people you are trying to reach are the ones who call you “mom” or “dad.” They need the Gospel, they need hope, they need the teaching of the Bible, to know what truth is, and to be exposed to the message of Jesus Christ through word and action. Just like living as a missionary in the rural parts of India would require a whole-life dedication to living on mission, so does the calling to raise our kids.
I am sitting here in the middle of the night writing this post with my five-day-old son wide awake staring up at me. As I look in those little eyes, I have to remind myself that there is a little soul in there that needs me to live a life worthy of the Gospel (Philippians 1:27). This little guy, and my other kids, need me to show them what it means to know Christ and have abundant life in Jesus. My love for Christ compels me to love them even more. As I love them and Christ, I live out the mission to make Christ known in my family.
Time is going fast. But our homes are ripe for the harvest. So whether your kid is five days old or five days away from going to college, don’t wish away the opportunity you have to love Christ by loving your kids well. Love your kids well by showing them Christ.
[…] This article originally appeared here. […]