Easter 2015 brought the unexpected “time off” for a spur of the moment trek to Nashville to spend Easter with our youngest and my sister and her family. As the parental unit tossed around the idea of making the trek…..the final decision was made by a comment I made.
“Our holiday events spent with our youngest are numbered. What would we have done differently had we known the last Christmas with our oldest…was in fact our last with just her?”
Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
And with that, we were off.
As a mom, there is just something so calming when you are able to feed your baby boy. (Always my baby boy.) So, feed our baby boy, we did. Burger Up has quickly become one of our favorites while in the Nashville area. Once again, it did not disappoint. Our youngest was able to get away on Saturday night and he spent the night in the hotel room with his parental unit. Again, feeding-comfort..hearing your child breathe as they sleep-bliss.
We have not stopped doing the Easter basket, and I don’t expect that to stop until his future wife one day says-enough. (PS-I would hope his future wife would know how much that meant to this Momma and she would encourage it!) Josh was able to have his bunny basket and as tradition has become…that included a movie and an iTunes card….I am a creature of habit. My family knows that and has come to expect my “normal” and gets rather irritated when I deviate.
Easter Day was spent with my sister and her family. We had just a wonderful time attending their home church, Grace Chapel in Franklin. Y’all, this church has goose-bump worthy music. Imagine my delight as our Easter special was “My Redeemer Lives” and it was sung live by none other than Nicole Mullens. Let me just say this, she took the roof off that church and well….that was that. If the service had ended right then, it would have been one incredible Easter service…but we were given a message that just put the cherry on top! I love it when an artist is better live than recorded. Nicole…hands down…see her live. She will inspire you, challenge you…bless you with her gift.
Following church we then headed to the Moore home for an Easter feast. There’s just something special about any holiday when you are surrounded by your family. We are so grateful that we decided to make the last minute trek down and are thankful that God has blessed us with the health and finances so that we can make those spur of the moment trips. I hope I remember that nail scarred cross that is now empty…today, and tomorrow.
Fast forward one week….and we were off again to Nashville for our Josh’s junior classical percussion recital. Part of the requirements for graduation with a classical performance degree is that you perform a thirty minute recital your junior year and an hour long recital your senior year. Josh has been preparing for months and it is a very important milestone in the classical performer’s educational career. Per Joshua’s request, we did not record any of his pieces. He will record those later in private. We could not be more proud of this kid. His talent, his work ethic, his determination and his desire to follow his passion and trust that God will handle the details regarding employment when the time comes…just so proud. He surprised us with his incredible talent…we knew he was talented, but to see him perform graduate level works with such passion…one with his/the music. Just incredible. We felt so honored that his aunt, uncle, grandfather, sister and his uncle’s parents were in attendance along with SEVERAL of his friends and professors. He was honored with a reception afterwards where Portillo’s Chocolate Cake and some Chicago Mix Popcorn where the stars of the room. One more month of his junior year…a summer at the Aspen Music Festival….senior year and graduate school auditions..and well…his undergraduate career will be in the books. Time is flying by…
Time is flying by…which brings me to the empty nester portion of today’s blog….Joshua’s recital was the first time in almost five years that his sister, him, Lee and I have been together without babies or anyone else. Just the four of us. I did not number my days with my daughter…and I so wish I had. They go by so quickly and soon it’s not just the parents. It’s spouses, children, in-laws, that new extended family….life changes…and often before you are ready for that change…and it certainly changes without your permission. We are so blessed by the babies our daughter has brought into this world…but there are days I sit and miss the four of us…..holiday events that you knew both kiddos would be there….time spent just hanging out doing nothing…just that special time of what was the original unit….but time marches on…and parents age, kiddos grow up….and those kiddos grab their own life. Just sometimes, you wish you could go back and hang on. 
So…today…number your days. Count each moment as a gift…..even the days where you question why you had kiddos in the first place….you will look back even on that day and smile.
And time….marches on.
kimandcoffeeandmusings 