“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2).
I try not to tell my children how smart they are. Don’t get me wrong: I do think they’re smart. Like most mothers, I see the best in my children—in all children, truth be told. But I don’t like to emphasize “smart”—a label that seems to change depending on whoever is in the room. I like to tell them I see how hard they are working. I like to remind them of their strength and resilience. I like to tell them that they are important—to their family and to their community.
Sometimes I get stuck worrying about the future, while rehashing the past. But God is quietly calling me to live in the moment.
As a wise friend of mine, Brenda, told me recently, “The time for loving our children is always in the now.”
This message is excerpted from “Parenting: a process of celebrating the now and eventual” by Elizabeth Hunter from the July 30, 2018, blog of the Women of the ELCA.
Copyright © 2023 Women of the ELCA. Inquiries for permission to reproduce should be directed to [email protected].