Today I am thankful for country music.

There, I’ve said it. I really do like all kinds of music and my iPod is a crazy, eclectic mix of stuff.

And maybe it is just my hillbilly background coming out, but there is something about those country songs. They make you stop, think, and realize how short our time on earth is.

I remember when I was pregnant with Emma,on a roadtrip to see my family, and I heard Kenny Chesney’s the Good Stuff song and bawled for a good 10 miles after I heard the part that goes –

Was the sight of her holdin my baby girl.
The way she adored that string of pearls,
I gave her the day that our youngest boy, Earl,
Married his high school love.
And it’s a new t-shirt saying, “I’m a Grandpa!”
Being right there as our time got small,
And holding her hand when the good Lord called her up.
Yeah, man, that’s the good stuff.

Okay, so I was pregnant. But man, that really is “good stuff.”

Or the time, sitting in my dining room with my mother-in-law and sister as we all cried to Martina McBride’s, In My Daughter’s Eyes. I still can’t listen to this part without tearing up –

In my daughter’s eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she’ll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I’m gone I hope you see how happy
she made me
For I’ll be there
In my daughter’s eyes

Oh, there are a hundred more examples I could give. Tim McGraw’s, My Little Girl (definite tear-jerker when you have two little girls!) or Billy Dean’s, Let Them Be Little –

So let them be little,
‘Cause they’re only that way for a while.
Give ’em hope, give them praise,
Give them love every day.
Let ’em cry, let ’em giggle,
Let ’em sleep in the middle,
Oh, but let them be little.

I could go on and on.

And then I had the CMAs on last week while I was working and Kenny Chesney performed that new song of his, Don’t Blink.

That dude has some seriously good songwriters on his payroll.

Don’t blink
Just like that you’re six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you’re twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don’t blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your “better half”
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you’re praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don’t blink.

My mother-in-law called to make sure I had heard it and told me I had to watch the video. If you can watch that video without getting a little weepy, well…more power to you. But I can’t. I can’t even though I have already watched it a few times and know exactly what is coming up next.

After an especially long day, where I am counting the minutes til the girls will be in bed, um…kind of like yesterday, I only need to listen to one of these songs and it reminds me to slow down. Enjoy them while I can. So for that I am thankful.