Category archives: Treasuring the Moments

How the Ordinary Moments Can Be the Most Impactful Ones

Today, I was helping Brent wind up the hoses to our trailer, as we packed up for our final jaunt to home. As I bent down to secure the hose in place while Brent wound it round and round, I had a flashback memory of me and my Pa. There we were again, out in the yard, Pa teaching me how to wind up the water hose. There's an art to it, you know. You can't just wind a hose up any old way or else it'll get all jangled and kinked up. When the memory came, racing back in vividly bright colors, I cried, quiet. Because winding up a water hose with my Dad was the most ordinary moment I can imagine. But, you never know which ordinary moment will lodge itself secure in your memory and then come traipsing back years later, in the most brilliantly alive narration. I paused and just let th[...]

Thoughts on Eight Years of Motherhood

One day, I had this baby. He was just a little thing with a whole lot of hair and a round face. I was nervous. I was scared to death in the middle of the night at that hospital, while my baby slept in the bassinet beside me because I had never been a momma. And now here I was, completely responsible for this intricately formed, tiny human being. But the music played on the CD that I had brought and in the night I cried through my fears and into God's comfort, "God of all I am, You are the Great I AM, holding all the world inside Your hands. Maker of all I see, Your love has captured me, More than all the grains of sand that fill the sea, You think of me."  (from the Praise Baby Collection) Deep down, I had mostly always wanted to be a momma. I had played it a thousand time[...]

Why It's Good to Walk Slow

I walk slow. Slow enough to really feel my life. Slow enough to notice the asters that have gone to seed. The honey crisp apples mottled in shades of yellow and red. That one fuzzy caterpillar on the leaf. Slow enough to enjoy my kid's wild laughter out there in the yard. To catch a glimpse of Hope's eyes as she runs and the way her hair bounces as she bounds along in her pink Crocs. Slow enough to pay attention to my soul. I've been reading this book where John Ortberg asks Dallas Willard about the one thing he would recommend that could bring new energy into Ortberg's spiritual life. Dallas Willard looked him in the eye and said, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life, for hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our world today.” It's hard to calm ourselves[...]

Dear Tired Momma, Why It Really is Okay to Go Slow

I love how intertwined their lives are with mine. Them and me-- pretty much we share everything. He wants my buttered toast, she wants to sip my coffee. And little britches, oh man, he’s on the verge of wearing me out. No matter how far out of reach I perch, he finds me and confiscates my computer cord. Suddenly no toy on planet Earth is as fascinating as momma’s computer cord. Nothing is really mine anymore. They scribble on my paper, tote around my books, wear my shoes, lay their head on my pillow. In vain I attempt to recover my things, only to find them in their grimy clasps again. It’s all good, though. I deserve these children. I do. Because I can recall explaining to my Pa on more than one occasion, after he inquired where his t-shirts went, “Just remember--what’s yours is[...]

How I'm Learning To Enjoy This Life

The girl with the paint smear on her forehead ran, like some wild child, like someone without a care in the world. Like someone utterly free. So, her momma turned to see. To see that light in her eyes and the way it shines out through her smile and punctuates her cheeks. And the boy, he ran too. Like a crazy hooligan, streaking through the hallway, tearing through the kitchen, and all for sheer pleasure. Nothing else. And that momma of theirs was captivated. She couldn't stop watching how the fully alive enjoy just living. She'd read about the dying. What they had to say. How they wished the living ones would just slow down and really feel their lives. She'd watched a dying man express how intensely happy he was when he heard the pitter patter of his little girl's feet comi[...]

Three is Such Good Company

People keep asking me how it's going with three kiddos, all of them younger than five. They always ask with a sort of tenderness, because some of them are older momma's and they remember these days and some of them aren't momma's yet, so they want to know, but they sort of cock their head and wait for my answer. And I wonder if they're trying to gauge and see if they'll be okay, you know, down the road. I tell them I'm doing good. Just so good. Because I am. Being a momma to me has been sheer joy. All three times. And I know Samuel is still little but he's not exactly sleeping through the night yet, so I'm tired, yes, but I didn't know that I would be okay being tired. I was the girl who always thought I needed 8-10 hours of sleep every night, and then a nice little cat nap in the after[...]

When I'm a Little More Still

I'm being a little more still these days. Because I have a new little one and my first trip to Lowe's with the three kids made me realize that I just don't quite have what it takes to go out and about just yet. I had thought it would be fun to get out and buy some living things. But, Gideon and Hope were far too fascinated with the bird baths and trickling water fountains to listen to their momma yell repeatedly to come back and Samuel took up all the space in the shopping cart with his car seat so there wasn't much room for perennials, anyways. Even if they were on sale for a dollar. So, I'm enjoying my yard more. And my house is staying a little cleaner because I used to leave my laundry and dishes behind on a whim, but now I get tired just thinking about it.And while I'm being a little[...]

Enjoy your life, my love

Little boy, did you see the ants today? Those ones in the long crack in the driveway, that just keep on keeping on, even when you leave tire tracks, right smack dab through the middle of their hill? All their hard work? They're busy little creatures. They don't seem to let defeat discourage them. They just keep building.Enjoy your life, my son.Little girl, did you see that one sparrow? Who built her nest in mama's peat moss basket? She flits off to bring more food to her babes, being careful not to swoop too close to the kitty. Her little ones are growing up so fast. Come hot summer, they'll be grown and gone. For now, she just keeps singing and filling up their bellies.Enjoy your life, my love.Little boy, do you notice the way your sister sees you? Like, you're her bestest buddy-chum pal?[...]

Why Today Actually Matters

 There is a God who always ever was and He weaves His Story into our days. This same God who conducts the wind, who made the moss grow rampant beneath the maples, the One who fills up heaven, He also dwells here with us, in our one fleeting life. And these days, all these running together days, though chocked full of common, ordinary, seemingly insignificant moments, are not some erratic succession of events, a mere twenty four hours in which we plod along and aimlessly exist. No, these days, each and every one of them is brimfull of meaning and purpose. Today matters because the God who exists is alive and well and He is not confined to church houses or sacred assemblies, but He is found here in all the gritty, humdrum slices of life. He calls Himself the great I AM. Doesn't tha[...]

More from Maggie

[jetpack_subscription_form title="Sign up with Maggie to keep finding glory in the grime!" subscribe_text="Enter your email address to subscribe"]