Our conversation went something like this:
“Mama, am I always going to be five? It’s taking SO LONG to turn six! Why does EVERYTHING take so long?” (Emphasis hers, not mine.)
“Well, Calla, the truth is that life actually passes quickly. The Bible says our life is a vapor — we’re only here on earth for a short time! I know it seems long now, but when you’re older you’ll understand.”
“Mama, you say that too much. I want to understand right now.”
(Long pause.) “Um, I don’t know what to tell you, sweetie. But just believe me, it’s true!”
The conversation got me thinking about the brevity of life, and about how quickly circumstances can change. When we’re young and carefree (like Calla) we feel like we’ll live forever, like things will always be the same. But how wrong we are!
Reflecting on the last ten years of my life, it’s amazing to me how much has changed. Some changes have been happy and exciting…some have been small but far-reaching…others have been difficult and scary…and ALL of them make me so thankful for an unchanging God — if I were living this life without His constancy and faithfulness, I’d be an insecure wreck!
So, just for fun, here’s a random list of changes that have happened over the last ten years…
15 Things My 2002 Self Never Thought I’d Be Saying About My 2012 Self:
1. I’ve been married for over seven years. {In ’02, I was finishing up my bachelor’s degree and getting ready to start a career in nutrition!}
2. I have four children. {It’s just starting to sink in — that’s a lot of kids.}
3. I bake my own bread. {I’ve always enjoyed baking, but never attempted yeast breads until a couple of years ago.}
4. I live in Colorado. In the mountains. In my favorite vacation town from when I was a kid. {I know, right??}
5. I rarely read books for pleasure. {This makes me a bit sad, although I’m sure the day will eventually come again when I’ll have time for pleasure reading!}
6. I’m considered “crunchy” (at least somewhat) by a lot of people. {I used to think all hippies were liberals, haha!}
7. I let my RD (registered dietitian) license expire two years ago and haven’t looked back. {I worked hard for that licensure, but my current work of homemaking and kiddo-raising is definitely harder…and much more fulfilling!}
8. I give birth at home. {Ten years ago I didn’t even know this was an option.}
9. I’m a big fan of real butter — we manage to go through nearly a pound of butter every week! {I used to be on the low-fat bandwagon. Shoot, I was the driver of that wagon!}
10. I maintain a family blog. {Did blogs exist in 2002?}
11. I rarely exercise. {I was a faithful 5K-runner back in the day. Now I just run after toddlers.}
12. I still have blond(ish) hair. {This is a change I’ve always expected…I thought my hair would eventually turn brown, like my eyebrows. Hasn’t happened… yet.}
13. I spend a few minutes out of nearly every day scraping poo off of cloth diapers. {I’d never given cloth diapering a thought until I was pregnant with my second child.}
14. I consider taking a shower to be a major accomplishment in my day. {Daily showers used to be top priority. Um, not anymore.}
15. I’m perfectly content hanging out with a seven-week-old, 24:7. {I did NOT enjoy babysitting as a teenager. I did it for the money only. 
}
What about you? Do you feel like your life is a vapor? What are some significant ways your life has changed in recent years, for better or worse?
-Abby
Great blog, Sis! Makes you realize how silly it is to worry about the future as it will certainly turn out different than what we can imagine. We think we can figure out so much, but God is the one who turns the directions and courses of our lives, always for the best if we are His. I never thought life would be so difficult at this point in my life. My expectations were that I would be one of those who hit middle-age on top of things. It’s pretty much the opposite. Those things I thought were so important have become impossibilities. BUT the things that remain are the things that are eternal and have true value. Your generation will have a different experience than ours to be sure. But thank the Lord it is ALL good and ALL blessed in Him. And you certainly are blessed by the Lord in many, many ways!
Love the picture of Calla with the tea cup!
Seems to be coming back to expectations a lot lately!
Goodness, when I think about how I fail every day…I definitely don’t want others to set their expectations on me, and vice versa! SO thankful for a God who directs our steps and meets all our needs without fail.
By the way, you’re the BEST momma EVER.
Your list made me LOL….I am assuming with you especially over scrapping poop out of diapers. Yep, didn’t think much about that one!
I love Calla’s thoughts – they say a lot about who she is…and that she has some pretty wonderful parents!
My 2002 self was married for 2-years but childless…I would have told myself that two-incomes and no kids is not good preparation for the life you are about to lead! (Stop spending money on junk and eating out and save it!) I also would never see us actively involved in homeschooling and the crazy sub-culture that is!
That’s a good one…the two-income/no kids advice! We never had two incomes so all we’ve ever known is being poor, LOL!
That was a really great post! Thanks for writing.
Thanks for stopping by, Grace! Hope you and Payton are doing well — you’re in my prayers!
Great post!
2. I thought I would end up with 4 kids…now I think 2 is enough.
5. I feel the same way. I remind myself that I’ll have plenty of time to read when they go off to college!
11. I am surprised that I DO run now, since I never did in highschool/college.
12. My hair is turning brown.
15. That’s funny that you hated babysitting, but now have 4 kids. I always loved babysitting and would have done it for free! I felt the same way when I started teaching. Every day I thought, “I get PAID for this?!?”
I’m pretty boring, because I ended up pretty much the way I thought: married, kids, teacher, living not that far from Chillicothe. Although if you have told me in high school WHO I was going to marry, that would have been surprising.
I can relate to all of these except #4, #5, and #12. I still find ways to read books, even though I probably stay up way too late doing it, and my hair has never been blond.
Oh, yes, and the cloth diapers. I have never had the guts to take that plunge…my laundry pile is floor to ceiling as it is! Isn’t it amazing how much our lives can change and how fast it goes? oh, yes, and if you’d told 18-year-old me that I would marry Robert…oh man, I would have laughed so hard. It took several years of NOT liking him at all to finally get to the point where I did…;-)
That was great!
The pic of Calla is cute, cute, cute.
Loved the “Six Weeks” post. He is something – I wanna eat ‘im up!
Probably my biggest “Who’d Have Thought?” to my 10 years ago self would be that I have SIX children, all girls, with a baby on the way – a baby that’s NOT a girl, haha!!