Time to Remember

'When God made time, he made a lot of it'.
I first heard this idea when we had just moved onto this quiet, Christian island and I immediately knew that this was a place where it could be true.

The main reason we moved from the rush-rush-rush of city living was to have time to spend with our children.  Faced with a short, year long maternity leave (at best) and the expectation to immediately return to who I was before the life changing event, the decision to opt out was simple to make.

We have been so lucky to have been present at almost every event in our boys' growing up. From babies, to toddlers, to primary and now into secondary and teen age, we have always been there alongside them for every milestone.  We have those memories stored and no one can take them away from us...

Many women enjoy the luxury of spending time watching their children develop, but by moving away from mainland society's expectations, Mark too was able to build up a vast repository of positive memories and bond with his sons.  I think he felt the social pressure and guilt more than I did, but thankfully we were committed to our ideals and we were happy to make the sacrifices necessary to go on with the way of living we believed to be correct.

As the boys have got older, we have been able to build up a working momentum again, rather than just being thrown back into the mix.  I am only now, when the boys are 10 and 11, starting to feel the challenges of balancing work and childcare.  The idea that I would have had to do this during the precious times of them being toddlers fills me with depression.  What a waste of time, to work for a bit of money or career advancement, rather than to grasp the one chance I would ever have to see my boys grow up.

Modern living makes us so disconnected and distracted from our memories and aren't they what make us who we are.   Our own lives and past's are what gives us meaning in the present and what is a life without meaning?

I hope to always be able to remember precious times and have those feelings again.  I think I will, so long as I have time and space to remember in the future.  Call it praying, or meditation, it takes a bit of practice but then its a bit like traveling back in time, but in your own mind.  A pretty good life-skill to develop I'd say.