20 Ways to Rock at Being a Mother [19]: Treasure the Moment

One thing is certain – your time with your children is limited. This is why every mother should take time to treasure the moment. You simply do not know what the future will hold.

Go back to 20 Ways to Rock at Being a Mother [18]: Wise as a Serpent and Gentle as a Dove

Looking Back and Looking Forward

As sure as day follows night, your children will grow up and make a life for themselves. Obviously, your relationship with them will transition into something else. Many adult children have long-term and healthy relationships with their mothers. Some leave for far distant shores. Others choose not to be “close”, even if they live close by. And sadly, others will be lost to this world way ahead of their time.

As with most things in life, motherhood transitions as time goes by. Your children grow up and instead of that cute three-year-old, there is an adult human in your life! So treasure the moment, because they never come back. I cry watching this clip from Mamma Mia!  It’s a moving story, as a mother reflects on the passing of years during the morning she helps her daughter prepare for her wedding. Gets me every time.

An Extraordinary Example

While Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried make a very cute pair, the most noble of mothers was Mary the mother of Jesus. She’s like, the mother-of-all-mothers!

Mary had an astonishing birth experience – and it’s recorded through it all she “treasured all these things up in her heart”. She treasured her special son as their journeys’ interplayed throughout their lives. Just like you with your children, Mary watched Jesus’ whole life pass by. Here are some of the moments we know of, as recorded in the Bible:

• Mary was told of Jesus’ miraculous conception before she even conceived.
• Therefore, she was aware of his unique paternity as she gave birth to him in a stable.
• Once Jesus became an adult, he worked in the family business.
• This changed when later at the age of about 30, he became an itinerant teacher, a Jewish rabbi. Mary was the one who instructed him to perform his first recorded miracle, turning water into fine wine.
• After impacting people far and wide, he eventually died a terrible death on a Roman cross as an example to others.
• Also, Mary was there with him during that agonizing death.
• Unbelievably he came back to life, and that miracle is the thing that clinches him as a central figure in global history.

Yes, Jesus is an historical figure. I’m often stunned when I realize that every time I write the date, I’m writing the approximate number of years since Jesus was born. The origin of our date is just one example of why Jesus Christ is so much more than people realize, as much in the 21st Century as the First. And Mary saw it all. Like all mothers do, she loved him through everything, was aware of the potential his life held, and thought about the long-term outcomes for her son. Mary treasured the moment.

Mary treasured these things up and pondered them in her heart.

Luke 2:19 (NIV)

Be Like Mary

No one regrets taking hold of precious moments with their children. People do however, regret not treasuring the moment. Each day is precious. Offer love, acceptance and forgiveness (20 Ways to Rock at Being a Mother [6]). Teach good things. Be patient. Create wonder in little lives. Show them the extraordinary. Have fun! Open their eyes to the lovely, astonishing and awesome things in this world. Warn them about the bad stuff.

Treasure the moment.

By doing this, you will enjoy with them that once-in-a-lifetime trip from childhood to adulthood. And you will learn to be a better person. And because of them, you begin to understand so much about what your parents sacrificed for you.

How to Treasure the Moment

• Have fun. Maybe it’s holiday time and maybe it’s not. But whenever it is, you can work fun into everyday life.
• Screen-free days can be highlights. Remember, boredom has to set in before kids can be creative. Boredom is good!
• Record the highlights – and maybe even the lowlights.
  • Take photos (although be aware of being a “sharent”!)
  • Scrapbooking is such a good pass-time, and can be used to make a special record. Perhaps a special day, or holiday; a year or a person.
  • Journals are a great way for children to learn to express themselves
  • Writing stories, perhaps about an imaginary idea, or perhaps to record something that happened in your family.
  • Voice and video recordings are also so easy to do with the apps on your phone. Make use of them, because no doubt your children already are.
• Engage your kids in conversation using great questions. Click here for my blog about this, and download 88 Great Conversation Starting Questions
• Let your children know what it was like for you when you were growing up.
• Open their eyes to the wonder in the world. This slideshow is a great start …

What are some of the things you do in your family to treasure the moment? Let us know in the Comments section below >>>

Next: The last in the series! 20 Ways to Rock at Being a Mother [20]: Every Mother Prays.