Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at the little shoes on the rug of my foyer. You see, those little shoes are the shoes of my 5-year-old grandson, Isaiah. The tears were because I realized how soon those little shoes would turn into big shoes. As a grandmother (Oma, I am called) I have been there. I have seen my 3 daughters grow up in a flash. I know how quickly time goes. I know how those little shoes quickly turn into big shows, right before your very eyes.
I look back on my life and have to say that being a Mother with raising my girls, were the best years of my life. Being there to watch them grow. Taking care of them. Making their dinner. Being chauffeur. Watching them participate in music and sports. Sharing with them the importance of loving God. Camping. Vacationing together. Watching them learn about life. Being together. It is a joy of life that you may not realize until those shoes are no longer on your foyer rug.
I remember being a young mom, women who were at the stage of life that I am now, would say to me, “Treasure this time your kids. They grow up so fast!” This phrase was said to me many times. Maybe it was because they saw me with 3 toddlers at hand. Maybe it was the tiredness in my eyes. Or maybe it was because I had a screaming child with me as I was walking out of a store. But in reality, it was because they knew this firsthand. Just as I now look at those little shoes on the rug, in my foyer. Those who have experienced their children’s small shoes becoming big shoes know how quickly they grow up.
With all the joys of being a mother, it can also be the hardest job you will ever have. You will never win a popularity contest. You work on a learning curve. You fail all the time. It can be exhausting. But time will soon change all of that. In a blink of an eye, no little shoes will be found.
Motherhood. A day to celebrate.
I will treasure this time with my grandkids because they do grow up so fast. I know.
Mother’s Day-1994
Andrea, Adrienne, Lori, and Audrey
Dance With Me Ministries 