I found this rotting gourd in my living room.
Actually, when I found it, this nasty mess was right where I put it two months ago when it was beautiful and lovely.
But now…the beauty that earned it a place of honor on my ladder shelf is gone—loooooong gone.
In beauty’s place is a mess of black, green, and brown mold slowly eating it and staining my shelf.
But yet, I have clung to the perceived beauty of the fall decoration and refused to let it go because, after all, it is still technically fall, and my decorations should last the whole season. I feel like I must squeeze every last minute out of one season before having the freedom to move on to the next. And honestly, I just haven’t taken the time to get all of my Christmas decor up.
But sometimes in motherhood, like with this gourd, I squeeze a little too hard—striving to hang on to the last bits of beauty of one season for a little too long—and the beauty begins to spoil or I fail to see the beauty of the coming days because I’m wrapped up in the emotion of a season ending.
So today while I throw away the rest of my fall gourds and put up the Christmas decorations, I’m also going to look for the beauty of the new seasons my children are entering right now.
I’m going to celebrate my little guy’s new expressions, “words,” and steps instead of mourning the end of the baby season.
I’m going to celebrate my little boy sleeping in his own bed all through the night instead of mourning the end of the snuggling-in-my-bed season.
I’m going to celebrate my little boy running off to play with confidence instead of mourning the end of the clinging-to-my-side-in-shyness season.
I’m going to celebrate my little girl taking an interest in doing her own hair instead of mourning the end of the mommy-does-the-hair season.
Today I’m going to celebrate—in freedom—the beauty of the new seasons instead of mourning the old because the old will live forever in my memories, but the new is a beauty to behold now.
