Don’t Miss This

I was having a day that felt much like a conditioning exercise I used to do many years ago while training for cross country. On the track, we would sprint the straightaways and walk the curves. My day felt like a sprint to get as much as I could done during my conference period- grade papers, contact a parent, make copies…This stop and go pace, while generating results of productivity, left me hovering around empty in my energy tank by the end of the day. It being my daughter’s first day of dance class, energy or no energy, the show must go on. 

Excitement sizzled in the air as the clicking sounds of tap shoes echoed off the walls of the mirrored dance studio. With a wink and a smile, I left her to tap her heart out. The stop and go pace continued as I sat in the parking lot feverishly working on lesson plans. 

After dance, we made a quick stop at the grocery store. My daughter sauntered and pirouetted down the aisles. As we reached the end of our list, we passed an elderly couple. He was hunched over his cart, his pressed button-down shirt neatly tucked into pressed slacks. His wife followed not far behind, list clutched in hand. I surveyed the contents of their cart, and noted it full of Dr. Pepper and oatmeal cream pies. In the organic, non-toxic push of today, it was refreshing to see that they must be doing something right if they’re spry and happily living on Dr. Pepper and cream pies. Maybe it was for their grandchildren, but something tells me that it was just a few of their favorite things. 

I stopped my cart and greeted them with a smile and a hello. I couldn’t help but wonder what stories they’d be able to tell if we sat down and cracked open one of those sodas before tearing the cellophane off the cream pie to reminisce of days of old. 

I felt the Spirit’s whisper come over my heart as I shifted my gaze back to my beautiful daughter. She sashayed with carefree joy down the aisle in search of pop-tarts. That whisper said, ‘Don’t miss this.’ One day, in a blink, I’ll be pushing my grocery cart down the aisle watching the generations to come find their way in this world. 

Don’t miss this. Don’t miss the opportunity to breathe life giving transformative guidance over the precious gift God bestowed upon me by trusting me to be her mommy. Father God, give me ears to hear Your voice and a heart imprinted with Your truth to shepherd her well as she grows (Proverbs 22:6). 

Don’t miss this. Don’t miss the dance. In any kind of partner dance, there’s a leader. If both partners try to lead, the results are disastrous. Toes get crushed, and bodily injury may ensue due to one’s unwillingness to submit to being led. Father God, lead me (Psalm 23:2). Direct my path (Proverbs 3:5-6). Direct my thoughts (Philippians 4:8). Direct my parenting. Father, may my love for my daughter be so evident in my actions and words that she never doubts for a second her value. May Your truth be fresh on my heart so that I may lead her to your Spirit’s refreshment daily. And may she receive it and be willing to dance with me the beautiful waltz of a mother daughter relationship when each is in tune with one another’s steps. May I not frustrate her, and please open my eyes to see any areas of need. 

Don’t miss this. Don’t miss the little things. After all, these are the big things. Dancing through the grocery store. Picking out birthday cards for friends. Putting hair in ponytails in the morning. Reading bedtime stories. These are the big things. These are the life moments I’ll miss when they’re gone. These are the moments that will resurface in my mind when it’s me pushing that cart four decades from now. 

‘Don’t miss this,’ I heard the Spirit whisper. Don’t miss the beauty interwoven into the fabric of each day in the midst of this fleeting life (James 4:14). 

A big thank you to my daughter’s grandparents and those special people that are like her grandparents who pour into the shaping of her life.