One morning just this past May, my only daughter and my little one rushed out of the house to go to school. When they stepped out of the house, my Love (my husband) stepped into the kitchen to prepare his breakfast.
He opened the fridge and took out the milk jar but he couldn’t find a place to put his cup on the island table because my kids left everything there, the cereal bag, their cereal bowl with leftovers, dirty cups, you just name it, everything was there.
I was sitting at the tea-table sipping my green tea.
My husband doesn’t usually lose his cool that easy. I know! I am always jealous of him! I always pray for that character of his to rub off on me but ????.
Anyways, let me continue with my story.
So, I looked at my cool husband and I got up to help him find a place on that messy table. He first sighed, then said with a low but firm voice, “I cannot wait, ”
Closing both of my ears with my two index fingers, I said with a loud voice, “Please don’t finish that sentence!”
He looked at me as if to say, “Well, look at me finishing it!” and said, “No, I cannot wait until the other two of your kids leave this house!”
Yeap! He said it! Can you believe it?
I said, “Please ‘yenie fiker’ (means, “My Love”), don’t say that. Yes, you can wait!”
He said, “No, cannot! I want to live in my house only with my wife!”
You know, these days, I really want to be a man. I mean, think about it. My husband is looking forward to the day that all our kids would leave the house. Me, on the other hand, I dread that day and I pray for God to help me never to think about it. I mean, I am still struggling to get used to living without my older son let alone wishing to be “an empty nester.” Our older son is with us now for the summer but I rather say, he is not with us, because he travels and when he is in town, he works 24/7 but I am thankful that I see him often.
And now, my honey-bunny wishes that my other two lovely kids were out of the house too! Can you even imagine that? Yes, you can imagine that if you are a man and a father.
But you know what? If my kind husband was not next to me, I would have raised my two strong boys to be incompetent in life. Now I see them becoming to be real MEN, men who are fixing their cars, fighting to make it through life, men who are willing to do any job so they can be financially independent, needing nothing from their parents. Yes, this is a blessing, as some parents say to me, and I know that, but being a mother is a noble and sacred call but at the same time, it is a very complicated call. You carry your kids in your womb for 9 months, bring them to this world, breast feed them and raise them. Then you want to keep them for yourself for good. I know! That is crazy!
You know what I do now, with the short time period I have with my soon-to-be out this house kids? I consciously and intentionally enjoy every moment of my time with each one of them. I’ve always been doing that but now, I don’t let any moment just pass by. I wish there was a way to freeze time so I could freeze this time. I guess that is not the way God designed this life. It’s okay. God knows what is best for us.
So, mothers, especially you mothers of little kids, listen to me carefully please: Treasure every moment of the time God is giving you with your little ones. If you are a stay-at-home-mom, wow, just bless God every day for every opportunity He is giving you to invest in the minds and hearts of your kids. You will never, ever, regret that you gave your life to them. Yes, sacrifice your life for them joyfully, teach them what matters the most in life as you model before them the life of praying, reading and studying the Bible and serving others.
Then when you get to where I am today, you shed tears of joy as you see each one of them, one by one, spreading their wings and flying away. Yes, that is how God designed parenting to be and don’t expect your husband to feel exactly like you about your kids. Let your husband be the man of the house. Always remember, your husband loves his kids, he dies for them but he doesn’t want them to live with him forever and that is the beautiful design of God, God designed men to be like an eagle, they push “the young eagles” out of the nest so that the youngsters know how to fly. No, their father is not going to let them fall on the ground. He is there to catch, protect and save them; but he will keep on pushing them out of the nest until one day, they will fly away and never come back. When these godly fathers push their young “eagles” out, they leave “this” in their kids’ heart:
“- – – Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
If it wasn’t for our husbands, most of us, mothers (wives), would have raised our kids to live like “ducks” while God created them to be “eagles!”
May God bless our husbands!
And may God bless our kids and our labor! ///