Bye-bye, Baby

I broke my teapot.

It was sitting in its usual place on the kitchen counter when I opened up the cupboard above it, and my big bottle of American vanilla extract fell out, crashing down onto the handle of the teapot and breaking it off into five pieces. I guess if I have to shop for another one, this is the best place to be, but still my first thought was, “Oh no…”

That teapot served me well through both pregnancies and the births of both children, both moves -- to Cyprus and then here to England -- as well as numerous heart-to-hearts with girlfriends in both places. Alas, ready or not, it’s time for a new one.

I have a love/hate relationship with change. Part of me absolutely thrives on it, but there is a very big part of me that longs for the safety of sameness, the comfort of predictability, the stability of routine. When I grow accustomed to something, especially something wonderful (a group of women studying the Bible together, a friend living just around the corner, a country that feels more like home than the one I was born in), I just want to hold onto that moment in time and make it last forever. But that never works! Time keeps ticking. Seasons keep changing. And I keep trying to live in the moment of NOW instead of holding onto the past or waiting for the future.

Sophie is 16 months old today. Sixteen months! No longer a baby. She’s toddling -- waddling, actually, like a miniature pregnant woman -- all over the place, and her personality is really taking off. She’s rocking baby dolls, pointing to everything she sees and hears, playing chase with Jack, jabbering away to all of us in a language only she understands. Ooooh, as much as I loved those precious baby months, this stage is so very much fun.

Right before walking Jack to school today I looked at Sophie in her stroller and suddenly saw how big she's become. And my first thought was, “Oh no…” Then I remembered the time I told Jack that I love him just the way he is, that I want him to stay little.

He said, “It’s okay, Mommy. Jesus wants me to grow so big.”

True. And He wants me to rely on Him more than anything or anyone else. Maybe that’s why He set up time the way He did. So that He’s the only thing we can hold onto forever.

I picked up a new teapot at a local charity shop the other day. It’s a different color than the other one was -- and a different shape -- but it still makes a great cuppa. And my little girl is even more delightful than she was before, although she’s growing up.

I think it's time for her first (plastic) tea set, don't you?