Cherishing this season

Eowyn turned one.

and just like that she's defiant and tearful and emotional. Her highs were always high, but her lows have now reached new lows. The feared initiation to the target-store tantrum? Check. The whiny screams and croc tears at the slightest discomfort? Check. All day long? Check. Check. I keep checking her mouth-She MUST be teething. No check. Expletive.

and when I hide in the bathroom while she sleeps and pray to the almighty for deliverance (okay-dramatic. just kidding.), one of the things I keep being reminded of is this: "Cherish this season."

Initially it seems a little tongue-in-cheek to me. Almost like the mom's who with the slightest encouragement launch into their 'just you waits.' You think a one year old is hard? Wait till TWO! You think having one baby is a job, wait till you're outnumbered!

but I know that these promptings I hear in my too-long-since-cleaned bathroom are sincere. They aren't cynical. They aren't a warning. They're an encouragement. Really. Cherish this season.

" I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Phillipians 4:11-13

Eowyn turned one.

and just like that she's crawling and literally doing a new thing every single day. She laughs and giggles to herself in the car and jibber jabbers. She's still a napping champ, giving this momma time to write and read some bible verses and talk to Jesus. She observes, and laughs and loves her dad with squeals and shrieks as soon as he comes near.

She's a little observer on our walks-taking it all in. She's responding to simple commands and as long as she's not hungry/tired/overstimulated, she plays alone and will look on over and give me the biggest smile before playing again. The child can eat. Like from 6th percentile up to 80 some percentile. Champ. She's fun to be around. She's so much my kid. I love that.

And while I sometimes dreamily watch the cute corporate gal go to and fro from her work place, I know God has called me to these four walls for this season. Its a short one-one I never anticipated. Yet, there's a peace in being here. While sometimes I dream of dropping that child off to a paid-professional that has seen the ones and twos and threes a hundred times over, God is using this season, this child, this stage to train my unskilled, ungracious heart. Other moms learn these same lessons without being at home during the day-but for me, this is what I need. To teach me discipline as I learn to discipline. To teach me how to give grace, when I don't want to. To teach me boundaries as I set boundaries. To show me my blind-disobedience as I see hers. To teach me the beauty and irony of the phrase "mother-load." Motherload of grace. Motherload of Joy. "A very large amount of something valuable." He's shaping me into the christ-following woman he's called me to be just as much as he's shaping her into the christ-following woman she's called to be.

and for all those reasons I will cherish these months. Because they are filled to the brim with good things and hard things and change-making things. And those are the best kind of seasons.