My first child was not a good sleeper. Granted, I was a clueless young mom who had no idea what I was doing, but that baby seemed like she was staying up all night on purpose. I would feed her, she would fall asleep in my arms, and then the minute I put her in her crib, her eyes would pop open, and the screaming would start.
After several weeks of this routine, I would cry right along with her and wonder if I could possibly die of sleep deprivation. This was before Google, so I had no way of actually knowing if my death was imminent.
Looking back on that time 18 years later, here’s what I notice – that was a short, short season. I can even laugh about it because the pain of those days is completely gone.
My kids are all sleeping through the night now, but I’m finding myself in a different kind of hard season. Last week, a friend sent me an email that said, “It won’t always be this way. You’re in the midst.”
I realized immediately that I needed to be reminded of this. It seems so simple, but I continually forget that the struggles I’m experiencing won’t last forever. Maybe I’m a pessimist, or maybe it’s just too hard to see through the darkness. Perhaps today we all need a reminder that:
Fussy babies learn to talk
Sassy tweens mature
Messy teenagers go to college
Jobs are found
Marriages improve
Better habits are formed
Life goes on
Life truly is a series of seasons, all strung together; ever changing, ebbing and flowing. Although it may seem like it, I won’t be stuck in this particular season forever. The next one may be hard too, but likely in a different way.
Psalm 30:5 says that “weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.”
I’m looking forward with great expectation to the joy that will come at the end of this season. Ultimately, even life itself is an incredibly short season on the timeline of eternity. And the joy we’ll have at the end of it is worth the struggle and pain of these “light and momentary troubles.”
So today I’m going to keep an eternal perspective, remembering that each season of parenting, of marriage, of life is short and fleeting. I’ll enjoy the blessings and joys that each season brings and remember that I’ll be moving on before I know it.
Blessings,
April Huard
