The day my five youngest were sick with a stomach bug, when I only had 3 1/2 hours of sleep, I had nothing to complain about. I realized these were precious moments, although uncomfortable and smelly and not how I wanted to spend two days before Christmas.
I still had all my children.
That same day a friend lost her baby granddaughter to sickness that wouldn’t be cured. Just a few weeks before she was here visiting with her parents and older brother, playing happily on the floor during church as she looked up at her mama’s sweet face cooing and laughing. And now she is gone. “Bless all the dear children in thy tender care.”
Why does it take a tragedy to wake us up and realize these moments, all messy, dirty, uncomfortable, lovely, laughing are so precious? This year I want to work on dwelling in the moment, whatever that moment happens to be. Each one is a gift. How many gifts have I thrown away in my hurry on to something more ______ (fill in the blank) fun, easy, comfortable?
I want to dwell. In my favorite dictionary, Noah Webster’s 1828 edition, one of the definitions of dwell is “To continue; to be fixed in attention; to hang upon with fondness.”
To hang upon with fondness.
When I don’t recognize this moment, right now, this gift God has given for my benefit I am ungrateful.
Last year I tried to remember avodah, my life is not divided, no matter what I am doing whether working, serving, or worshiping it is all one and the same. I will continue to live an avodah life but I will dwell more here, now. And as I do so I will show eucharisteo to Him.
Dwell when I work.
Dwell when I serve.
Dwell when I worship.
I want to learn to appreciate the here, the now, the present with fondness. To fix my attention on every detail and not let it go to waste.
Oh I love it!!! Great reminder for me these days. My 2 and 4 year old are really naughty lately;)
2 and 4 year olds naughty? No way!
So wonderfully put!
Love this. I feel we are learning this lesson too as we saw a friend lose their little one recently as well. Life is precious.
Dwell! Great post!
My great great grandmother lost 9 of her 11 children in their youth. My mom, who also had 11 children, used to tell me how when she was at her wits end with her kids, or they were sick, or simply hard, she would often feel her great grandma close by whispering, “Yes it’s hard, but Sharon, they’re ALIVE! You can hug them and hold them and tuck them in.” Your post reminded me of that — which is just the reminder I needed.
Thank you for this post that helps me to remind myself that even if it’s not always roses and sunshines at home, I have my husband and my two children with me. Yes, dwelling is a very good objectiv for 2014!
thank you for this post
Dwelling in each moment is why I don’t have very many pictures of the moments of our lives. For me to stop and take a picture means for me to stop dwelling. When I see beautiful photos of beautiful moments in other people’s lives, sometimes I am sad, but then when I am actually living and dwelling I realize that I don’t want to step away, removing myself from the moment to frame and take a picture. I am forced to simply remember. So I write about it after the fact, hoping that the words and remembering will be enough.
It’s a hard balance to strike, isn’t it? When looking at pictures from Christmas I found there are very few because I was dwelling in the moment rather than taking photos. My kids went through the pictures and were sad there weren’t as many as I normally take. What? They are always shying away from the camera – or pretending to. I think this is something I will be working on this year. Trying to find that balance of how to capture the memory.
AuntSue
Thank you for your wise words. When I was feeling guilty and sad for not having more children, the Spirit whispered for me to take joy in the children you have now. This message refocused my mothering. I had let myself become sharp, dismissive , “busy”. I wasreminded of how much I had wanted to be a mother, a gentle, loving, patient mother. Now as a grandmother, my children and grandchildren are my “Happy Place”. They are truly my “Joy”.
I am kind of an obsessive house cleaner and I find it sooo hard to enjoy any moments if the house is messy. I am really working on this since I can’t keep it spotless 24/7 with 6 kiddos. I always think – Let’s clean up really fast and then we will have fun. Living and enjoying the moment is something I would like to work on. I hope you post a lot of reminders throughout the year.
While reading in Isaiah this morning, I read this passage and thought of you and “dwell.” Not sure the meaning is what you’re going for, but it’s an uplifting scripture nonetheless. Especially if you have Victor Ludlow’s book to help translate Isaiah for you. 🙂
Isaiah 33:14-16