I woke up early this morning with these two words running like a ticker tape through my thoughts:
Brevity Barometer.
After a few moments, I had the picture of an hourglass with sand grains incessantly falling through.
Lastly, Psalm 90:12 surfaced in my thoughts…”Lord, teach me the brevity of life so that I may grow in wisdom.”
I pondered it for a while and finally fell back asleep around 3:00 a.m. I woke up a few hours later with a deep longing in my heart for another week-long Thanksgiving break to spend with my family. I so enjoyed the funny quips, the nerf gun fights, the decorating of Christmas cookies, the good food at family dinner and the even better pockets of sweet conversation in between…
There have been several women who have gone before me in life who gently reminded me on many occasions, “Kimberly, enjoy your sweet boys while you can…before you know it, they will be off and running the race set before them.”
Having two sons out of the home is surreal at times…the quietness can be stifling. I have spent many of these still moments wising I could go back and undo or redo or highlight and delete the moments of striving, the moments of perfectionism, and the moments when my desire to control the variables in life ended up “wasting” the precious moments that could have become a sweet memories.
All that to say, I ended up walking through the day today with a renewed gratefulness for what really matters, and a gentle reminder of the brevity of time that we are given with our children and even our parents…
Holy Spirit, become my Brevity Barometer, nudging me to slow down when things inevitably speed up. Lord Jesus, help me to relish each moment You allow me to breathe on this earth. Grant me a heart of wisdom, o God, that allows me to love deeply with your love, your compassion, your grace and your Truth.