HSBC Coffeebreak

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil- this is the gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 3: 11-12 NIV

When my first baby was still a newborn, I remember constantly being stopped in the grocery store by older women telling me, “Enjoy her while she’s little, they grow up so fast.”

I remember struggling inwardly with two different responses. One thought was, “How can I enjoy it anymore than I am?” The other response was, “It’s not really all that fun you know.”

The first month of my daughter’s life felt like it lasted an eternity. She seemed to cry all the time; I didn’t know what she wanted; I never knew when she might start crying while I ran errands, and I feared it. I didn’t know how to get her to sleep, and I wasn’t convinced I was fit to keep her alive, let alone that I was really the best one for the job.

My oldest child is now six and something strange has happened now that my fourth child has been born. When I hold her in my arms it usually makes my eyes tear up because she is so precious. I can see the seconds flashing by, and there’s no way to hold on to them any tighter.

I’m probably slower than anyone else at learning these things, but I have gained a lot of confidence and experience with babies. I’ve had a chance to watch my other kids grow into fascinating individuals. I’m guessing it will only be a blink or two before my children will be grown and on their own. Maybe then I’ll stop mothers in the grocery store, and while their babies fuss in their carts I’ll tell them, “Enjoy them while they’re little, they grow up so fast.”

Why do we tell others to enjoy life before it passes? Does it actually change anything or make it any more enjoyable? Maybe after a few more years I’ll figure out how it make time slow down, or how to enjoy my kids when they’re miserable to be around, but I haven’t yet. I don’t know if talking about the speed of which life passes accomplishes anything, but it is so true, that we seem unable to say it enough. Or maybe it’s just a fact that can’t be changed whether we realize it or not.

Perhaps God has placed eternity in the hearts of men so that we can’t get used to this temporal world. It’s natural that we would fight the passing of time. Our heavenly home is not a place of death or good-byes or losses. This world is a place where goodness, purity, and pleasure are always so fleeting and fragile that we grasp it as though our life depends on it. But until we reach heaven, “I know there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.”

Written by
Melody Anderson