The Stebbins Family

The picture above is of my cousin, Heather Armand Stebbin’s and her family. I love all my cousins and their families but I get a special joy watching the Stebbins.  I grew up in a family of two boys and a girl with very similar age differences. Watching her family brings back so many memories of my childhood. With three young children in the house there is constant motion. Just getting a picture with everyone happy and looking at the camera can be a challenge. Heather and her husband Ted always take whatever happens in stride.

Recently Heather posted on her Facebook a quote from a devotional by Jen Haymaker that she came across during her morning quiet time. “You will never have this day with your children again. Tomorrow, they’ll be a little older than they were today. This day is a gift. Breathe and notice. Smell and touch them; study their faces and little feet and pay attention. Relish the charms of the present. Enjoy today, mama. It will be over before you know it.” —

This quote struck a nerve with Heather as it did with my wife who immediately responded. Within a few minutes a number of other young mothers also expressed how moved they were by this quote and more importantly the reality of the very short time they have with their children.

Now my Papaw Warford had his own way of teaching this same lesson to my mother and other young parents. His words lacked the elegance of Jen Haymaker’s but he could always make his point. With a soft grin and a wink of his eye, Papaw would tell young parents “there is no rewind on that movie.” He encouraged them to make the time to invest themselves in their children and to enjoy every minute of their childhood.

The old King James Version of the Bible said “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”  The English Standard Version says “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”  This biblical charge found at Ephesians 5:16 is not just for mothers it is for all of us. We are all to make the best of every day but these words have a special implication for parents. A childhood is but a fraction of a lifetime and some of the stages of a child’s life can be calculated in hours. Like scenes in a movie the events in a child’s life flash before our eyes and they are gone. First words, first steps, first cookie, first day of school, first car and so on. Every day with a child really is a one shot affair, there is after all, “no rewind on that movie.”