The Days Are Long

“The days are long, but the years are short.”

I received this gem of wisdom one day during my husband’s long deployment. On that particular day, I was frantically cleaning up, bouncing a crying baby, breaking up fights between the toddlers, changing diapers and chasing my three young children around whatever brave activity I had taken them to do. I needed to get out of the house for my own sanity, but I usually regretted leaving the confines of our home.

It was exhausting, and it seemed as if these long days would never end. The days were so incredibly long. But once everyone was in bed at night, I’d come back to stare at each of them with their little eyes closed tightly, listening to their little snores and being overwhelmed with the amazing love I had for each of them.

Just a few weeks later, my life changed forever when I heard the heart-stopping, life-shattering news that my then 5-month-old daughter had brain cancer. Our journey with Charli took us through the darkest times of our lives, yet God’s grace, and the strength He gave us to take one day at a time, taught us more about our dependence on Him than any other moment.

God also taught me so much about priorities and what is truly important in life, and my whole outlook on bringing up my children changed drastically from that day forward. Truly, children are a gift and a blessing from the Lord.

Praise God! Charli is 10 years-old today, and despite some on-going struggles, the brain cancer has never returned.

I’ve learned that even during the hardest days, longest days, craziest days, God is working through us to show grace and mercy and love to our children … the same grace and mercy and love He demonstrates to us daily.

And through it all, may we remember that these years are oh so short.

Jamie is a new staff member on the Woodmen Kids Rockrimmon team. She’s lived in many locations with her Air Force family. She loves the adventures of being a military dependent but feels the urge to settle down in the newfound peacefulness of the mountains.

- Jamie Butler