A bit of friendly, unsolicited advice for new moms and dads:
Fill your homes and cars with singable music. Trust me, it will bless you now, and continue to bless you in years to come.
One of my favorite precious memories is how my little middle boy would sing out this song from the back of the car in his car seat, precious toddler slightly-offkey voice praising God. Whenever this song comes on my playlist today, I feel the same joy I felt then, and it keeps close how much I’ve loved being his mom through all the stages of his life, and helps me remember the ‘little years’ and keep them close in my pondering nostalgia, too, even as I am filled with wonder to watch him as a new dad with his own little one.
Another precious
memory is as a brand new mom with our first born son, you know how in those
early first few months you can be so tired and the middle of the night
wakenings can be so exhausting, but I remember rocking my sweet boy, too tired
or emotional to know how or what to pray in those early morning hours, and
singing the first hymn that would come to mind, which for some reason was very
often, “There is a Fountain.” I remember so many nights singing, sometime
though tears, loving my little newborn. Well, many years later, when this
little guy was no longer little, but taller than me and standing next to me in
church as a teenager, and we sang this
song and he turned to me and said, “I love this song.” That filled my heart,
this song, whether he consciously remembered it or not, had been planted into
him and it was good.
And then there’s our youngest, our daughter, who when she
was little loved to twirl and dance to whatever praise music I had on at any
given moment. Music has been a sweet part of our lives.
So, young moms and
dads, sing. Fill your homes with song. When you feel like it, and especially
when you don’t. It’s sweet in the moment, and it will turn your heart to Jesus
when you need Him so much, and it will fill your heart in years to come when you
remember those sweet days fondly. I cherish the memories and sometimes miss my
days of parenting little ones, even as I’m so incredibly thankful I get to be
part of their lives as they blossom into the precious adults God is molding
them to be, and how excited I am to get to be Grammy to this new little one,
and those who will one day come into our family. What an amazing gift it is to
be mom to these incredible people.
