Trace Adkins has a popular song titled “You’re Gonna Miss This.” It talks about wishing away certain things in life that actually end up being the good days we will miss someday. The chorus goes like this:
You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this
This sappy song kills me every time I hear it.
Knowing this, my kids completely use it to their advantage when I say no to something. They start quietly humming, “You’re gonna miss this, you’re gonna want this back.”
Then I promptly let them know that I will not miss making three dozen Mexican sugar cookies at 10 at night for the Spanish extra credit project they forgot about.
But, the truth is, I probably will.
All your days are his
I’ve recently been convicted that I need to slow down and find joy in the places where the Lord has me right now. To stop focusing on the hard or even the mundane. Instead, I should approach all my days from a place of gratitude to the one who has gifted them to me.
Psalm 139:16 says: “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (NLT).
Charles Spurgeon, referencing this verse, said God saw us when we could not be seen and he wrote about us when there was nothing of us to write about.
What a perspective change when we consider that the God of the universe literally laid out every moment of our lives and recorded it in his book before our first breath. That each day has been lovingly orchestrated by our Savior, for our enjoyment and his great glory.
Yeah but
Some of you are probably thinking, Yeah, but you don’t know the hard places I’m facing.
You’re right. I don’t.
But Jesus does, and he promises to be with us all our days (Matthew 28:20). He reminds us that in this world there will be trouble but to take heart because he has overcome the world (John 16:33).
We are reminded that the Lord quite literally rejoices over each of us, and, in doing so, he’s quieting us with his love (Zephaniah 3:17).
This side of heaven, we will have very few days that are completely problem free. But we can be encouraged that, even in our difficulties, in Jesus we have hope. He gives peace and significance in circumstances that could otherwise lead to discouragement and despair.
By trusting Jesus with our lives, we can choose to find joy in the chaos, beauty in the mundane, and blessing in the struggle.
The little things are the big things
Isn’t it funny how God sends you little nuggets of his wisdom?
For me, it came in the middle of doing nothing special, when God reminded me that I needed to start counting the little things as big things.
The reminder came as I was dressing my toddler in his very cutest fall clothes for school pictures at his preschool. I just got that little nudge to remember that the seemingly insignificant things (like sweet little boys and their preschool pictures) will actually end up being the big things someday when I have time to sit back and evaluate it all.
I described it this way in a social media post:
When you have a three-year-old in your late 40s, you get the added bonus of re-doing some of the things that seemed like nothing with the first round of kids (sorry Kate and Brett). You realize the seemingly insignificant little things end up being the big things that you will profoundly miss some day.
I love the cute clothes he has to wear for school pictures b/c he doesn’t have a choice. I love the goofy smiles with his eyes mostly closed. I love that he has a lisp and all of his “L” words come out like “Y.” And I love that I can laugh when he has an accident at the alterations place with my 16 year-old-daughter standing there in her HOCO dress.
Just wanted to take a minute to celebrate the small stuff.
Since then, it has hit me again and again . . . as I helped my daughter get dressed for homecoming and when my growing pre-teen son wanted to stand back-to-back to confirm he has officially passed me in height.
Where can you slow down today and let God help you find significance in the small things?
Where do you need a reminder that the little things actually end up being the big things?
As Trace Adkins says, “These are some good times.” Let’s make the most of them.
