Seasons of Life

Last week I went out for coffee with two great friends who are also pregnant.  A couple tables across from us sat four older women who we knew - moms of former Young Life kids we knew when they were in high school.  All of these women's kids are now grown and moved out.  

My friends and I joked about how that will be us in 20 years.  And as we sat and talked about our upcoming deliveries and baby things and nursing and all of those things that moms of newborns talk about, I wondered what the other moms were talking about.  Maybe they talked about their kids - reminiscing of when they were younger and life seemed so full of activity and challenges.  Maybe they talked about how much they miss their kids who have moved far away.  Or maybe they talked about how great and freeing it is to be empty nesters.  I don't know.  But I wonder what we will talk about years down the road.  When we sit a couple tables away from a group of young pregnant moms who are happy just to get a night out, overhearing them worry about their kids who don't sleep and how hard having another new baby will be.  I wonder if we will look at all with a twinge of sadness - not wanting to return to the newborn stage, but wishing for more years with our kids, not matter how hard they were.  

I don't know what that will be like.  I can't imagine life past the little kid season.  It's hard to even really believe that we will be past it someday.  So I want to enjoy these little guys and even this crazy, no sleep, nurse every 2 hours newborn stage that is coming.  Because someday I think I'll miss it.