The “Good ‘Ol Days” Are Right Now

As a mommy, it is very easy, very tempting to look back at previous seasons of life and sort of long for those days.

I don’t know why I do it.

I am surrounded by the preciousness of my young children.  Absolutely surrounded.  (Literally, all the time)  Yet I am often blind to all that preciousness.  Discontentment makes me blind.

That discontentment has reared its ugly head in my heart during every phase of my mommy-hood.

When I was a new mommy with my first baby, I would ache for the days when I could come and go as I pleased.  I despaired over the sudden “end” of my social life and I struggled with loneliness.

When precious number two, Mark, arrived, I deeply mourned the loss of my one-on-one time that I had with Rudy.  I also worried about the logistics of getting two children in and out of the car, of dealing with two differing nap schedules, of loving them equally.

And now, there’s three.  Three children, three personalities, three sets of needs.

I must confess, I often struggle with weariness.  And I don’t mean the anticipated weariness that comes with being a mommy.  It’s more of a weariness of spirit.

I let that feeling of being overwhelmed get to me.  And that’s when I start to long for the “good ‘ol days”…days when I got more sleep, looked and smelled better, and had a bit more control over the look of my home.

All of that “reminiscing”, every bit of it, boils down to discontentment.

I am like a forgetful Israelite…my mouth is filled with manna and complaints at the same time.  (How ironic!)

Fortunately, this pitiful place is not where Jesus has left me.

He has burned into my heart some very convicting, very wise words:

“Say not, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’  For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.”  –  Ecclesiastes 7:10

This verse is absolutely shocking!  Is Jesus not sentimental?  Does He not want me to look back and pine for the sweetness of easier days gone by?

Really, this verse has nothing to do with being sentimental or not.  In fact, Scripture paints the picture of a very sentimental God.  (All of history is moving towards a restored paradise and relationship between God and His people.  If that’s not sentimental, I don’t know what is.)

Rather, this verse is centered around the “wisdom” of it all.

If it is not from wisdom that I yearn for the better days, then what is it from?

Speaking from my own heart, I would say it is straight from discontentment.  Joy-stealing, time-wasting, energy-depleting discontentment.  In short, my discontentment makes me foolish!

It is so foolish of me to not notice the gifts and blessings that are today.  Not yesterday, not a month ago, not a year ago…today.  Because today is the slot in time that God has placed me in.  And I will never get it back.

Whether you have one child, two children, three or more…it is perfect.  Your season, your station, your today is absolutely perfect and brimming with blessings!

Let me show you…

If you are a mommy of one…

• You can offer your full attention to your little person!  You only have one full attention to give, and right now you can dish it out on your baby.
• There is rest for you!  A single-baby household offers the gift of the occasional nap and quiet time…capitalize on that.  🙂

If you are a mommy of two…

• Your baby has a living, breathing entertainment center in front of his very eyes!  Sometimes you just need a break from keeping baby occupied…what better helper than an older sibling?
• There is chatter in your home!  There are two voices, two pitter-patters of feet, two sets of laughter…there is no sweeter music.

If you are a mommy of three or more…

• Your children are more than siblings, they are friends!  God has literally given you a home filled with tiny little friends for each other (and for you!).  🙂
• You are never bored!  (Ever 🙂 )  Excitement fills the air in your home…so many little ones running around means that the unexpected is pretty much the expected.

These truly are the “good ‘ol days”!  I pray for that to be my attitude always…in every season.  Even when (gulp!) my children are grown and away from me.

No season is more smiled upon by God than another.  The simplicity of one child = the sweetness of two children = the excitement of multiple children = the delight of grown children!

May God grant me the faith and wisdom to love my children well.  To love my season of life well. To look back with thanksgiving and not with longing.

Thoughts, mommies?

Lauren Souers

Hi, my name is Lauren. I am the wife of one fine man and the momma of four (huge) young children – three boys and one princess! I love all of them. I mostly clean up messes and feed people all day, and it’s really fun to write about it. Jesus is the rock of my family – we love and serve a mighty King! I hope you leave here full of hope that “tired” can be good.