To Everything There is a Season

I faced a lot of challenges as a late-in-life mom. My 41 year old body wasn't too thrilled about being pregnant again. Labor and delivery required pitocin and an epidural--after I'd had no medication for my first three labors. My body didn't bounce back once Christa was born--and it took me quite a few months to mentally accept that I had a baby.

Now I'm watching Christa face her own challenges as a caboose kid. Her challenges aren't physical. No, instead Christa wrestles with the reality of how much older her brother and sisters are. She has an uncanny sense of time for an almost 6 year old and she is oh-so aware that she is much, much younger than Josh, Katie Beth and Amy.

And she wants things to be different.

She wants to grow up faster so she can catch up with them.

She wishes she was in college like her older siblings.

She is afraid Josh is going to die before she has a chance to grow up.

I know I can't give Christa any promises about what the future holds for her or for her siblings. I tell her there is no fast-forward button for life--no way she can grow up faster. I remind her that Josh, Katie Beth and Amy were once little kids too.

I realize that I must assure my daughter that "To everything thing there is a season." I'm still learning how to do that. Sometimes it's as simple as saying, "Christa, enjoy being six! You'll grow up soon enough."

This is her season of childhood--and I don't want her to wish it away.