September 25, 2024 Pasketti Season
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
(Ecclesiastes 3:1, NRSVUE)
Pasketti Season
I’ve kept a journaling habit on and off throughout the years. At one point, I used it to work through big life decisions, but now that Yoon and I have kids, it’s become more of a way to capture special moments and the changes in our kids’ life stages.
One thing Yoon and I often mention to each other is when our kids say something cute—those mispronounced words that remind us they’re still little, with remnants of toddlerhood clinging to them, even as they grow. These tiny imperfections from an elementary schooler are fleeting, but they’re precious.
About a year ago, I recorded a moment in my journal when Hudson excitedly told me about an episode of his favorite t.v. show at the time, Blaze and the Monster Machines. He gave a detailed account of how Blaze solved the mystery of who stole pasta from a restaurant. After a few tense moments in which I honestly questioned whether we should even be watching this, Hudson finally revealed the big twist (spoiler alert if you’re planning to watch it): “The chickens left the pasketti in their baskets!”
Pasketti??
“Wow! I didn’t see that coming, Hudson!” I said with a grin. What I really didn’t see coming was that, just a month before starting kindergarten, we still had a little boy who said “pasketti” instead of “spaghetti” and that it would soon change.
I always knew that those toddler-isms – like “pasketti” – would come to an end at some point, and I think every parent would agree, it happens faster than we expect! I haven’t written any more of Hudson’s cute mispronunciations in my journal since – and it’s no wonder, he hardly makes any anymore. “Pasketti Season” has passed, but a new season has begun.
Ecclesiastes 3 shows us what it means to identify and name the seasons of life. It also reminds us of the inevitability of change, something God has woven into the fabric of life. This theme is echoed in one of my favorite hymns, In the Bulb There is a Flower: “Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see,” is the refrain that reminds us that only God truly knows when one season will end and another will begin.
Maybe God was grinning too when “Pasketti Season” drew to an end, knowing that a new season was on its way.
Reflect:
What season of life are you and your family in right now? Name this season out loud. How can you embrace it while preparing for the next?
How does Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (the “a time for everything” passage) help you process change in your family’s life?
Pray: Dear God, Thank you for the gift of each season in our lives. Help us to cherish the moments you give us, even as they pass quickly, and grant us the wisdom to embrace each stage with joy and patience. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
With faith, hope, and love,
Eric Smith