Thursday, March 19, 2009

{wildflowers and a lesson on time}




Headed home from the desert last weekend I couldn't help but notice all the beautiful new trimmings that now adorn our Arizona highway.


For miles there was a blur of orange as we passed the most delicate of poppies. They are a beautiful yet simple flower. I even love their name.


Poppy.


It puts a smile on my face every time.


I was enjoying the scenery in my sleepy haze. The boys in the backseat were singing me a lullaby as they breathed through their dreams and the warmth permeating from the windshield made it nearly impossible for me to fight my drooping lids.


I think it was the flowers that kept me awake. Here and there we would meet a patch of purple as well. A new found wonder on that warm sleepy day.


All week I have thought about those flowers. As I feel Spring dipping it's toes in the mountain air, it's hard not to yearn for those pretties in my own yard. The grass is starting to poke out in small green patches through the brown and today I noticed buds on our sad little shade trees. Even some of our sweet little pansies have returned. It's almost here.


A nearly forgotten recollection of my childhood returned along with these lovely trinkets of spring.

Oh how many times I remember shouting aloud while on a family car ride, "Did you see those pretty flowers?" My mom in the passenger seat would ask me what color they were and how many I saw and that was the que for my dad to get the suburban turned around and back to those flowers. If there was a good stretch of them, we were allowed to hop out and pick some to take home with us. If there were only a few we would get a closer look, admire them for a minute, each making our best guess on what their name might be, and then return on our merry way.


I didn't quite appreciate this gesture in my youth as much as I do today. My life now seems to go by so quickly that I don't ever think to pull over and pluck one of those glorious flowers. Or show it to my boys. Let them see the vibrant color and the intricate design that each of them was crafted with.


How I am grateful to my parents for having time to allow my imagination to expand and my gratitude for God's wonderful creations to thrive.


What do we have except for time anyways?


I am reminded of these words from President Thomas S. Monson...


"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly.


Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows."


I hope to find joy in my journey. And to pass on that desire for life and love to my family. Things can wait. Even messes. But my boys are growing faster than I can stand and I don't want to waste a minute of that precious time.


4 comments:

Mary said...

Amen! You are at the start of your motherhood journey, but the day I dread--the day of the empty nest--approaches all too soon. I never got to be a stay-at-home mom, so making time is something I have to remind myself to do, but it is soooo worth it!

Lizzie said...

great quote! but tell me, i must know... where in AZ are those flowers? we're in the FAR west valley and haven't seen any poppies!!

i hope you have a wonderful weekend :)

Leslie, Kenny & Bentley said...

Thank you. That is so true and such a great reminder. I can't believe how fast Bentley is growing and I don't want to miss a moment of it. I'm super impressed by the way with your writing ability. you are awesome. I love reading what you have to say.

Jessica said...

Pretty flowers!

I typed a post on my blog not very long ago and stated how sometimes the simple things can be the most picture perfect moments...God blesses us in SO MANY ways!