During the last four months, I have been training for my first half marathon. The race is this week. A couple of weeks ago when I finished my 10 mile run with my friend, I remember thinking, “Ahh, this is the last time I have to do this before the race.” It got me thinking about all of the “last times”we think we have had.

My first four babies were born before the social media boom. I’m pretty grateful for this, actually. I think I would have worried myself to death having been bombarded with so much information. We had what we call parenting books and that’s about it! A lot of posts have been made recently with videos and stories of all the last times in a mom’s life. You never know when you will wash your daughter’s hair again for the last time. You will have one day when you won’t rock your baby to sleep any longer. Gee whiz, talk about depressing. Moms all over the world are bawling at these videos and wondering what they missed.

I have some encouraging news! We don’t know when our last time is for anything. Who knows that? Only the Good Lord. James 4:13-15 reads, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, we ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

The last time…

I don’t spent a lot of time thinking of when my baby boy’s last bath will be, or when he won’t want me to sing “Jesus Loves Me”10,000 times before he sleeps. Instead, I will choose to live in the moment and look forward to the next stage. I plan to look forward to the first times I will have with grandbabies , daughters in law and sons in law.

Honestly, I am often so tired and ready to get on to the next thing that I don’t live in the moment. That is something I long to change.

No such thing as the last time….

I got to wash my 21 year old daughter’s hair when she was sick in the hospital. I painted her nails, rubbed lotion on her legs, and washed her face. The Lord watched over us during that time and gave me a chance to wash her hair again.

Mommies, don’t get sad about the last time you will do something. Celebrate it and enjoy the next stage of your baby’s life. Look forward to the times you will possibly relive those first times and remember, you don’t know when the last time is you will do anything. You may have another baby, run another marathon, bathe someone else’s babies, and rock toddlers to sleep in the nursery.

If you think you’ve missed those last times, give yourself grace, and remember ..”you don’t even know what will happen tomorrow.”

Bless you!