"And if that Mockingbird don't sing..."

To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Time (def): Having a limit. Opposed to eternity.

Almost everyday for the past three years, naptime has looked the same in our home.

Little Ethan and I would snuggle up in his lower bunk. I'd read him a book while he ate a small snack. I would then turn out the light, hand him his blankie, I'd scratch his back and sing the same song...Mockingbird.

"Hush little Ethan don't say a word, Momma's gonna buy you a Mockingbird...."

A sweet moment, set aside from the chaos of any given day. This time a gift...to me more so than him.

Even if I had twenty other things to do...laundry, cook dinner, phone calls, home school, a much needed shower....I would still take time for this routine.

Because I knew that this time had a limit.

But all too soon.

Yesterday was a rainy day - perfect for a nap.

I snuggled him tight in his light blue blankie.

"You want mommy to sing Mockingbird?"

{Pause}

"Mmmm. No."

{Pause}

Those two little letters piercing my heart.

"OK."

I scratched his back as he drifted off to sleep; rain tapping his window.

Tears marking my cheek.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to keep silence and a time to speak. Ecclesiastes 3:1,5,7 emphasis mine

He's growing up.

My little "E".

But he is only little for a time.

And it is so hard to release my embrace. Even a bit.

And to know when not to speak.

Or sing.