I find myself in a place I’ve been before.
A place where every little thing is big…
A kiss. A hug. A moment. The unexpected beauty of the mundane. All dancing together as a reminder of the impermanence of life.
Not long ago it struck me as I crawled into my bed in the middle of the day that so much of life is measured in breaths and heartbeats and the little things.
It made me pause and wonder why it is I miss this truth when my body works, why I have to wait until my hair is falling out and my body is frail, why my heart needs to be broken and spilled out to wade in the truth of it.
To drink in the little things while...
I lie in an ER bed smiling at the gloves she brought me just hours before, feeling their softness and warmth against the cold and sterile. Or I listen to the cadence of her voice mothering my loves and her own as I give into the demand of sleep and sickness. Or I count the tears in her eyes as they fall all over my heart and breathe life into my dry bones.
To remember the little things when…
I think of him. On the last day I heard his voice. On Father’s Day. On his birthday. On the day he met Jesus. To measure his love in coffee cups and all things Christmas and the warmth of his weathered hand against the contour of my own.
To show love in the little things when…
Her chubby little arms reach out to grab mine. Or her little voice asks to play the Cinderella game as if it hadn’t been played a million times before. Or he whispers in my ear, “I love you, mom.” Or she curls up beside me to talk about all that fills her heart.
And somewhere in the taking stock and wading through and being present, the answer came.
You find the power of the little things when you stop long enough to still your heart and enter into a place that puts people before things, love before anger, living before dying.
To be still and know is the gift you are given in the eye the storm. A sacred haven where He bends down toward the contour of your face, the weariness of your heart and breathes in a life unexpected.
One where the veil is thin, time is precious and every little thing is big.