Believe Manifesto

One day you wake up and those chunky, dimpled, soft knees have turned into little boy knees. You can see their strong bones instead of dimples. They can run fast instead of of crawling. They knee you in the side instead of being tucked up beside you.

During those days when you feel like you do every single thing for them—every single day, we often wish it away. We say we can’t wait until they can get that snack, walk over there, or tell me what they need. But the minute it happens, we already miss it.

This morning Coen wanted to paint, so I got out the paints and set him all up. And for 10 minutes he was absolutely silent. I forgot that it gets this way. I forgot that instead of wishing for 1 minute alone, I’ll get 10 minutes to do something I need and then that time grows as the days go on. Each day they need us less and also in different ways.

I used that 10 minutes to make me a cup of coffee, reheat my breakfast and sit for a minute. As I was sitting still, I was reflecting on how much I missed the baby knees. It went by so fast. It can’t be that he is three and not a newborn. When our kids are in the newborn phase it seems like the days last for weeks. It’s actually the shortest time of their whole life. I thought about why it is the days seem so long. And then it dawned on me, maybe God makes the days seem long so we have more memories of that short time in their lives. Even though we are sleep deprived, healing, covered in milk and spit up, we have these days that seem long to soak it in. To remember their little sounds, stretches, and sleepy faces.

I think boy knees are perfect for curling up in my lap with a favorite blanket. And I think in the moment I am going to try to be still and soak up the boy knees instead of missing the squishy baby knees. Being present, even in the difficult, is what makes life living. If we are constantly wanting to be in another moment instead of the present one, our life is passing us by.

Love the boy knees today and soak up every moment, even if you have to call in for back up from friends and family! After all, life isn’t be meant to be lived apart. It is meant to be live shared.