This Season

Lilly was 15 months old when Sophia was born.   I had only just begun to adjust to life as a mother when a second baby came along, and suddenly I could not do anything beyond caring for babies.  I remember mourning this especially on Sunday mornings.  Rather than sing in worship or listen to the message, I was walking a baby around the sanctuary or entertaining a toddler.  I clearly remember one morning an older woman sat and chatted with me for a moment.  She reminded me that this was merely a season, one that would pass into another season.

And pass it did.  Those babies are now in elementary school and they can entertain themselves for hours.  Many seasons have passed since then, and I love framing my life in seasons.

I'm in a rather unusual season right now.  We moved here in the middle of the year, and it took a few months to get fully settled.  Now that we have a stocked pantry and everyone settled in their sports teams and classrooms, life has settled down to a simple rhythm.  We will leave again in only 3 more months, and so I don't have the option of complicating my life again.

And so, here is my season.

This season must be simply enjoying where I am, with very little to do.  Little Annika has very little to do, either.  She is not in preschool this year, but she will be next year.  It is only for the next 3 months that I have a little girl spending her days with me, and what a blessing to spend these days enjoying her company.

So, on this rainy day when no one wanted to a playdate, we made playdough.  We have a list of fun things in the DC area for other days, and most of them are outdoors or full-day adventures like fabulous museums and playgrounds.  Those will be fabulous, but how nice for a rainy day where we simply make playdough and then read on the couch.  I'm being called there right now...