Raising two kids wouldn’t be so hard if one of them wasn’t a toddler who was constantly demanding her own way. Her first-born nature and mine seem always to be wrestling for control. She loves to help with dishes, and some days, I feel like we’re elbowing each other for a better position at the sink — her goal, to play in the water and mine, to actually clean some dishes! She’s also in the bossy stage. I feel like her pet sometimes. “Sit.” “C’mere.” Will I soon be asked to “roll over” or “shake”?
No matter how crazy the day has been, though, there’s this moment at the end of the day that makes it all worthwhile. It starts with kisses and hugs at bedtime, followed by an “I wuv you” as one of us puts her in her crib. As soon as the door to the bedroom closes, my husband and I look at each other and almost audibly let our breath out. He calls it “the sigh moment.” The work part of the day is over and it’s time to relax. Even if our son is still awake, it’s still a more calm time in our household.
Thinking about the sigh moment helps me get through those everyone’s-tired-and-cranky-and-there’s-too-much-to-do days. That’s my reward.
So, too, in the Christian life. Walking with the Lord, working for Him, serving in His name can be exhausting and seemingly unrewarding, at times. But we have confidence that when our time is done, we’ll have a sigh moment with Him. Not just a “well done, good and faithful servant,” although coming from God Himself, that would be enough, but eternity to live with Him.
“Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4