Enjoy or Bemoan?

I've been going through next year's curriculum lately. I figured fifteen to twenty minutes here and there while the girls are doing independent work might allow me to actually preview a lot more thoroughly than spending a solid week right before the new year starts. It also keeps me from neglecting the rest of life in the process and gives me more time to think through ways to truly mold the curriculum to my kids' personalities.

As I've looked through it all, though, I've realized just how much the kids have grown! I see all that they've learned this year and all that they're going to learn next year. I see how far Steven has come and how much I'll be able to plan for his learning pleasure this coming year.

All of this realization can lead to a bit of sadness. They're growing up! I'm about to have an eight-year-old - she's going to be a third-grader! Not only that, but I'm about to actually have two kids in elementary school! Not only that, but my sweet toddler is almost not a toddler anymore. Although he's still clinging to toddlerhood in many ways, his learning level really puts him more in that preschool category these days.

But the truth is that even though I miss some of the things in their lives that are gone forever, I am really, really enjoying where they are today. I'm even looking forward to where they're going to be soon.

Often we tend to bemoan the days that are gone, whether it be the earlier childhood of our children or the "good ole days" that we love to talk about. When we do so, we miss the incredible growth that God has for us today.

Just a few days ago, I read a verse in Ecclesiastes that really drove this thought home...
Do not say, "Why is it that the former days were better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this. Eccl 7:10 (NASB)

I will always treasure the days that have gone by. I will look fondly through the thousands of pictures I have of my children, and I will enjoy the little tidbits that I've recorded in their baby books and on the blog. But, God has given me today with them. Yesterday is gone and I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. Today is precious. I'm going to enjoy it!