When you're 9, you can't wait until your age becomes "double digits", then you can't wait until you finally turn a teen at 13. The days creep by as you wait for 16 to get your driver's license (was 15 back in my day), and then finally graduation at 17 & counting the days until you're in College! As the days go on and on, you can't wait for college graduation to get a job, live your life, have your own place, stay up as late as you want, party all you want, and be an adult and have no one tell you what to do / when to do / how to do it.
Then you realize with that job comes a schedule, you have to be at work at a certain time, lunch is at a designated hour and you get off at the same time every day, five days a week, you go home stressed, tired & wondering is this what life is about. Then you meet the love of your life, get married, start having kids & you look back and say ... wow - where have the years gone.
Kids grow up, move out, some stay married, some divorce and one day you wake up and realize and there are days you wish you were still 9 with only chores to do, no bills to pay, no mortgage, no life situations, just living your life at 9. As a middle age adult, you have responsibilities you never imagined, whether it's carrying for an elderly parent, being a grandparent, and just dealing with daily situations and events of life.
The things you know at 49 compared to 9, is as vast as the open sea. Your mind seems cluttered at times with all the details, appointments, and daily stress of just making it through the day. In my world, the things that can take all the craziness away is stopping & thanking God for my blessings in life, my health, my family & knowing that God promises us He'll never leave us or forsake us, he's in it for the long haul.
I'm thankful for days with my grandchildren, they teach you humility, to return to the simple things of life - whether it's sitting on the steps & blowing bubbles, watching two squirrels play, picking up rocks & throwing them in the pond or even sitting in the grass and making a clover necklace.
So the next time life seems overwhelming & out of control. Stop, thank God & go play awhile. Children are a reminder of how life should be, carefree, simple and trusting. Trust in the one who put is in this world; trust in His guidance and His love.
