By: Brenda Wieneke
Two of the most common comments I get when I’m out with my kids are, “Don’t you have your hands full?” and “Enjoy it, because it goes by fast.”
Lately, in this season of life, the word that keeps coming up for me is gratitude, gratitude for the many blessings filling my life. But whenever I hear “Enjoy it, because it goes fast,” I can’t help but ask myself: How do I actually do that? I remember thinking, Can someone please teach me how?
As always, the Lord has been the One to show me.
Something Jake and I love to do with our kids is go on an adventure every weekend. Sometimes that looks like a family bike ride, a hike, playing sports at the park, or simply going for a walk. We’ve done this for the last six years, and it has become second nature for our family. Because we do it so often, though, I’ve started taking it for granted.
Lately, I’ve caught myself rolling my eyes whenever Jake asks what I want to do on the weekend, because a selfish part of me just wants to stay home, watch TV, and lay around doing nothing. In a way, I felt like my weekends were “owed” to me, I worked hard all week, so this was my time to relax. Don’t get me wrong: there is absolutely nothing wrong with rest. Rest is essential because it recharges us for whatever the Lord has planned next. But my heart needed a perspective shift.
Recently in prayer, the Lord has been gently teaching me what it truly means to “enjoy” this season of raising young children. As I write this, I’m holding back tears because of how intentional our Lord is.
Long before I had a husband or children, my prayer was to have a family that loves well, a love so deep that it overflows to others. I prayed for a close-knit family built on the foundation of Christ, for kids who would be best friends, love one another deeply, and drop anything to be by each other’s side.
This is it. Right now is the time to lay that foundation. Right now is when we build the childhood memories that cultivate a family who loves well. The Lord has given me the grace to recognize and embrace this truth in the quiet, little moments.
Yesterday, we took the kids hiking. As I sat in prayer this morning looking back at pictures from our day, the Lord reminded me: “Brenda, this is how you enjoy this stage of motherhood.”
As I pray the Rosary for my babies, I am filled with overwhelming gratitude for each of them. I am grateful for their little hands and feet that will one day grow bigger; for their little voices calling out for me to hold their hands; for their tired cries asking to be carried; and for their bright smiles as they look at Jake and me and say, “Dad, this was so fun! Can we do it again?”
All I can do is pray even more out of sheer thankfulness for it all.
I am grateful for my husband, the most gentle, kind, and loving human. I am grateful for my children: Israel, Colette, Felicity, and Clement. I am grateful for every single second I get with them. I am grateful for kids who will hike in the rain with their crazy parents and still find joy in it, kids who are up for anything.
As I pray, the Lord keeps reminding me: this is how you “enjoy it before it goes fast.” Gratitude, my friends, is the key. It’s all about keeping a grateful heart.
Happy Sunday, everyone! Enter this day with a heart full of gratitude. When we do, we begin to truly see and appreciate the Lord’s many blessings in our lives.
“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6–7
Leave a Reply