There’s one thing about becoming a new parent that no one talks about much: the time warp. Somehow, once a new baby enters the picture, time utterly slows down in your home-while it speeds up everywhere else. Just watch social media: the world moves on, your friends start having all the fun, the new smartphone comes out, stand-up paddleboarding becomes all the rage, and the best movies hit the theaters. Meanwhile, you’re home. Holding a baby. Feeding a baby. Changing a baby. Burping a baby. Trying to get a shower. Heating up the same cup of coffee 4 times and still managing to drink it cold. Over. And over. And over again. Every day. All night. While everyone else is having the time of their lives. Sure, having a baby is wonderful but certainly the term FOMO was birthed out of a home with a new baby.
But catch the truth in the paragraph: having a baby is wonderful. It’s a gift. And if it’s a gift from God (which it most certainly is), then having a baby brings benefits beyond compare. Maybe-just maybe- it’s the world that misses out. Maybe the world needs to sit down and stick it’s nose into the soft folds of a newborn’s neck. Maybe the world needs to run it’s lips gently across tiny baby toes. Maybe the world needs to take the week off and spend each afternoon with it’s arms holding a seven pound sleeper on its chest, feeling the quick little breaths and listening to those soft coos of the freshest, most innocent dreams.
Maybe the world has forgotten how to relish life. And maybe you, with your newly arranged schedule and perfectly sweet little person in your arms, are the stuff of envy. And maybe the world knows it, maybe it will try to convince you to be more like the world when you have every right to whisper from your rocking chair, “come and sit. Enjoy this moment. Really, really enjoy it. Don’t let it slip past unnoticed.”
Lord, I know that if I blink, I’ll miss it all, the newness of life and gift You’ve given this family. Remind me as often as needed that this time is precious.
-by Lillian
