Treasure These Things
My daughter Kyla turned the magical age of 16 on June 1st. The one that made me a momma. The trailblazer and pioneer of the family. My reliable, dependable, loyal, sweet, beautiful, and bright firstborn child. I’m pretty sure that I have navigated every emotion possible in the last 6 months, as this birthday milestone has been looming on the horizon. I’m sure that there are others out there that can relate to these emotions!
I have heard the statement, “the days are long but the years are short” more often than I can count in the 16+years of being a parent—and I am really beginning to understand what that means in both the emotional and spiritual sense. There is a much greater purpose for our children’s lives. Absolutely more than our motherly minds can even fathom.
This must have been how some of those biblical mothers felt as they looked at their children. Exodus 2:1b(NLT) shows us that Jochebed, the mother of Moses, saw that “he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months.” The NIV says that “When she saw that he was a fine child, she kept him hidden for three months”. The Gospel of Luke records that Mary, the mother of Jesus, “...treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”(Luke 2:19, 51) She was remembering, preserving, and keeping safe so much about her child.
And isn’t that what we do? We tuck away those precious moments and memories. We ponder their potential. We shield them for as long as possible from the world. We push them through every challenge they face. We cheer them on through every life change.
I believe our Heavenly Father has a similar position in each of our lives.
His Word says that He knew about us well before our own parents did and before the foundations of the earth. He knit us together in our mothers’ wombs, and we are fearfully and wonderfully made. He created us in His image. He knows the number of hairs on our heads. He has kept track of all of our sorrows, collected all of our tears in his bottle, and recorded every one of them in his book. He knows every intricate and intimate part of us. He has called us by name, and we are HIS. His plans are to prosper us, and not to harm us. He has prepared in advance good works for each and every one of us to do. And He has prepared a beautiful, eternal home for us in heaven!
So as I celebrated this 16th birthday with my precious oldest daughter, I reminded her that I had written down many funny phrases that she had said during her toddler/preschool years. That I had thousands of pictures and video recordings of her life. But most of all, I boasted to her all that her Heavenly Father knew, said, and loved about her life. (Everything stated in the previous paragraph and more!)
Would you copy and paste that paragraph to your memory? Will you remind your children and grandchildren? Every sentence is a promise from the Lord to His children. His thoughts of us far exceed what we as parents treasure, ponder, and preserve about our own children. He is a good, good Father and He loves His kids!
Treasure These Things.
In His love,
Lindsey Parks
