Yesterday, a man in his late 80s or early 90s told me to treasure every minute of my time with my children. He was sitting behind us in church and he told me story after story as the church filled with people. There was a twinkle in his blue eyes as he remembered the days when his own children were young. And when he told me to enjoy every moment, his eyes filled with tears and it was as holy as a moment as I've ever experienced. His words were for me and I heard them. I really did. As I wrestled my daughter in church, he smiled at her. He meant what he said and as I sat in church, I prayed that I could follow his advice.

I thought of him just now Bedtime can be hard here and sleep is often difficult for me to find. But, my kids and I have a dance we do when they brush their teeth before bedtime. I made it up years ago so that my son would brush for long enough. We sing it and dance and they brush. It's quite the spectacle, I guess, although I never thought much about it. We dance and sing and then wind down with stories. This dancing and singing might not help the wind down, but their teeth are clean and we dance until we're laughing. Tonight, my daughter laughed so hard that she danced right into bed and fell asleep almost immediately. My son quickly followed.

My husband snapped this photo and truly, I wonder if these nights won't be what I remember when I'm older and in church watching young children be young children. The man yesterday in church spoke to my soul and while I do think it can be hard to enjoy every, single moment, I aim to enjoy more than not. These moments are fleeting and I know it. His eyes yesterday reached right into my heart to remind me of what I have already known: I will dance with them in all the ways, meeting them where they are. It's not always easy, but nothing worth doing ever is.

Thanks for Mothering the Divide with me as we do our best to realize that the life we're in right now and the dances we're doing are the ones we must savor.

Join Kara on her Facebook page, where she shares a daily story just like this one.