I pray you read this and make a plan to change a few things...

Hello and happy Thursday, we had a torrential downpour last night but the skies are looking not as hazy and grumpy this morning and I can actually see the mountains. We are supposed to get rain/snow for the next 3 days, I am just praying that the forecast is wrong and spring is coming in like a bull, kicking the remnants of winter in the bum as it comes in. I am so ready for warmer weather, green grass, flowers, and leaves on the trees!

I read a little writing this morning that I would like to share, I have to admit that it was not my phone that took my attention away from my Megan but it was a lot of things. I was divorced when she was only 2 and for about 5 years I was trying to find myself, I depended on my family much of the time to tend her and I did not give her the quality of my time that she deserved. I moved to Utah when she was only 7 and that is when I finally realized how important my time was with her....it was just as important for me as it was for her. I do feel guilty about the lost years and I would give anything to go back and do it over, I am just so thankful that I was afforded the opportunity to have so much quality time with her after moving here. Megan is grown now, lives 17 hours away from me and not a day goes by that I don't cry over how very much I miss her. If you are preoccupied in the hustle bustle of life, PLEASE find time each day to appreciate the gift of your children, PLEASE put down what it is you are working on and make your time with your children the best it can be. Is facebook that important? Is that text message something you cannot respond to later? Is that offer of overtime on Saturday and Sunday more important than that ball game, the family dinner, the visit with grandma and grandpa? PLEASE, don't be like me, sitting here sad over the lost years...I pray you read this and make a plan to change a few things so that you are not forgotten in later years! 

Dear Mom On the iPhone,

Marshall Miller

I see you over there on the bench, messing on your iPhone. It feels good to relax a little while your kids have fun in the sunshine, doesn’t it? You are doing a great job with your kids, you work hard, you teach them manners, have them do their chores.

But Momma, let me tell you what you don’t see right now…..

Your little girl is spinning round and round, making her dress twirl. She is such a little beauty queen already, the sun shining behind her long hair. She keeps glancing your way to see if you are watching her. 

You aren’t.

Your little boy keeps shouting, “Mom, MOM watch this!” I see you acknowledge him, barely glancing his way. 

He sees that too. His shoulders slump, but only for a moment, as he finds the next cool thing to do.

Now you are pushing your baby in the swing. She loves it! Cooing and smiling with every push. You don’t see her though, do you? Your head is bent, your eyes on your phone as you absently push her swing. 

Talk to her. Tell her about the clouds, Mommy. The Creator who made them. Tickle her tummy when she comes near you and enjoy that baby belly laugh that leaves far too quickly.

Put your eyes back on your prize…Your kids.

Show them that they are the priority. Wherever you are, be ALL there. I am not saying it’s not ok to check in on your phone, but it’s a time-sucker: User Beware!

Play time at the park will be over before you know it.

The childhood of your children will be gone before you know it.

They won’t always want to come to the park with you, Mommy. They won’t always spin and twirl to make their new dress swish, they won’t always call out, “WATCH ME!”

There will come a point when they stop trying, stop calling your name, stop bothering to interrupt your phone time. 

Because they know…

You’ve shown them, all these moments, that the phone is more important than they are. They see you looking at it at while waiting to pick up brother from school, during playtime, at the dinner table, at bedtime…..

I know that’s not true, Mommy.

I know your heart says differently.

But your kids can’t hear your words, Mommy. Your actions are screaming way too loudly. 

May our eyes rest upon those we love, first and foremost, and may everything else fall away in the wonderful, noisy, sticky-fingered glory of it all.