Monday, October 26, 2015

Seasons of Life


Empty bins sitting in my closet.  Overflowing bins use to sit in my closets, garage and anywhere else I could store them.  Twice a year, I would pull down the bins, empty out my girls' closets and we would spend an entire day trying on clothes and seeing what had been outgrown and therefore passed down or moved out of the closets and what needed to go back in the bins for another time.  I'm now down to maybe a bin in my youngest daughter's closet and what took a day now takes a few hours.

It symbolizes the rest of my life right now.  Instead of juggling multiple daughters and their various levels of learning, I only have 1 to teach and we can be done by 11 a.m. instead of someone still doing math when Daddy gets home in the evening.   I do a lunch out and can splurge on Chick-fil-A instead of figuring out how 5 of us can eat for $20 at McDonald's.  I can run errands alone because at least one of her sisters will be home instead of gathering up 4 little ones and making a run to the grocery store in between naps.

I miss those days!  The house can be so quiet when all of the older girls are off at jobs or school and it is just my youngest and myself.  I miss the girls running in and out of the house with laughter and sometimes tears.  Now I pray a quick prayer as a car leaves the driveway knowing that they are in God's hands, where they have always been but it is so more clear now.

Empty bins - a reminder of a full life that I am thankful for more and more every day!

2 comments:

aneedlefandapaintbrush said...

So sweet. Brought tears to my eyes. I remember saying to a question on a Facebook quiz, "What is your favorite sound?" My answer was, "The sound of the door closing after the last child comes safely home at night." It certainly is a different season for you, and you are right, the girls have been in God's hands all along. But when you aren't right there watching, that's where the real test of trust comes. Love you and your little women!

Candi said...

I hear you, June! I'm just now starting to feel like it's OK that those days are gone. I have my first grandchild on the way and am thinking that the coming days will be so much fun that I'll once and for all stop longing for the days when my children were young. I was just talking to one of my boys last night and saying that I'm learning to live in the moment and to appreciate what's in it now. Seems like such a simple thing, but harder than one might think. Have fun with Gretchen while you make special memories with her.