I recall when our children ranged in age from seventeen years down to one year old. Wistfully, I imagined how nice it would be if they could each stay at their current age. Of course I knew that was not realistic, but inside of me, I felt a longing to hold onto this time forever. That way, every stage of childhood would remain in our family.

Each stage of child development brings its’ own set of joys and challenges. Watching them reach milestones and learn new things is very exciting. Just when you think you have a handle on how to deal with a particular child and situation, you get hit with a curve ball. Parenting skills are acquired through years of trial and error as well as from the expertise of qualified mentors. For us, our foundation is The Word of God, so our goal was (and still is) to follow Biblical standards and to pray our way through each day. There are various styles of parenting and we can glean much from others, however our journey will be different from everyone else’s because everyone is unique. Instead of comparing ourselves and our kids to other families, take one step at a time with your children, learning and living life together.

When you are in the middle of a crisis or even the day to day busyness, it’s easy to wish that all the kids were grown up and you had time and space to yourself. That those long, restless nights with a frightened toddler or sick infant were long gone. Or that instead of reading Good Night Moon by Margaret Brown Wise for the “Umpteenth” time, you could curl up with a favorite novel. You may tire of taxying your kids to ballgames and dance lessons, but one day you will look back and miss those days. If we can appreciate being in the moment with our family, we will store up abundant, precious memories with them at every stage of life. And in a way, your children really will be frozen in time.

“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1