“Live radiantly by expanding your focus to include Me in all your moments.” (From Jesus Calling by Sarah Young)
“Can you listen to your brother read?” I ask a small son. “I need to start dinner. We’re running late with school. If I don’t get dinner going, we’ll be late for swim practice, too.”
My son nods and his little brother pulls his read-aloud book from a basket on the floor. Together they traipse through the kitchen to our closed porch. The afternoon sun is streaming in, and it’s the next best thing to being outside.
It’s been a wild few days. Lonny’s out of town. Our homeschool workload has been heavy. We’ve had sports and activities and the normal fast flow. There hasn’t been a moment to spare and time is pressed tight.
We’ve been very full.
I pull a stockpot from the cupboard and vegetables from the fridge. As I do, Rugby the pup bolts through the kitchen with someone’s shoe. Another son calls from upstairs. He’s needing help. I glance at the clock, feel the pressure, ditch the stock pot and head in the direction of the dog and the stairs.
And as I do, I pass the porch.
And what I see is a precious thing.
My youngest son is reading. His voice is soft, but the rhythm is steady and strong. His brother is sitting next to him on the porch swing. Winter sun stretches a golden ray across their laps. My boys are each holding a corner of the book.
My youngest pulls his pointer finger along, under the words, and when he’s stuck he lifts his head and looks into his brother’s eyes. Brother gives him the word, and then their heads are dipped again, fine, blond angel hair grazing their collars and shining in the light of the sun.
I understand, as I stand still, for a moment, that this is true fullness–an understanding that the Lord is here with us, loving us, reaching into our lives, bringing beauty and love and mercy and grace into our small minutes.
I’ve taken great comfort, recently, in learning of how He’s present in our trials. Our hard circumstances. But right here, right now, I’m soft inside over how He’s also in something so small. Something so ordinary. These moments are for His glory, and my heart fills with praise.
Even small, everyday moments are full with the presence of Him.
The puppy wonders where I’ve been, and he makes another swipe through the kitchen with something else he shouldn’t have. A voice is still sounding down the stairwell, supper is still undone, and there’s plenty for me to do.
But I stand still for just a moment longer.
I’m looking at fullness differently. It’s not about how busy I am.
It’s about how the Lord is with me, ever-present, right beside me in the center of my day.
