Lydia J Will: Evidence of Glory #MindfulMotheringMondays

"I guess I'll come if you really want me to."

"I really do."

An hour after my very reluctant assent, I found myself in the front passenger seat of our family van, 6 kids in the back and my over caffeinated husband in the front. I was admittedly pouting - this is not at all how I pictured spending this Saturday morning. It's not that I, on principle, dislike garage sales. In fact, most years I'm up and ready to go on this particular June weekend to the neighborhood-wide sale. I sip coffee and walk sunny streets with hundreds of others, looking for deals and chatting with friends. I usually enjoy it quite a bit.

But this year was different. The day before, I single handedly took all of the kids to a huge outdoor museum, walking in the sun and dragging the them in the wagon. The babies skipped naps and everyone was overtired by the time we pulled into our driveway. Afterward, I baked a cake and we headed to a friend's house for a cook out, returning long past when our kids are normally in bed. I passed out moments later and knew nothing until this morning when my husband enthusiastically made his plea for whole family garage-saling. Ugh.

I made a couple mopey comments about how the baby was going to skip her nap for the second day in a row, how tired I was and how we really didn't need any more stuff in our lives. I reminded him passive-aggressively that I had basically been super mom the day before and most certainly "deserved" to sit at home with that new book I can't put down. He (wisely) didn't comment, and remained upbeat despite his grumbling wife.

Hours later, after getting a rare lunch out and stopping by a garden stand, we made it home. My oldest set a flat of flowers he had picked out on the porch before scooping up his baby sister. "This was kind of the best Saturday ever." The rest of them agreed.

I know he's really right.. There is evidence of glory all around us at all times, if we're not too bogged down to see it. It's easy to get that way - I do, all the time. Bogged down in the work of life that you brush of the good things like nothing more than an irritating fly. Or so fixated on something that you want that you fail to see the good bits in regular life. I'm guilty of both. It's amazing to me that, living in a world that is so vibrantly alive with God's masterpieces, it's possible to be so blind to them. Living a life so saturated in grace that I forget it exists at all.

I think it's because we're meant to, every day, set aside our own hopes and expectations, wishes and motivations, to be open to the direction of God in our lives. Those interruptions, those plans gone awry? They're more than someone else trying to wreck our day. They are opportunities to follow God's lead and find His purpose for us.

It really was the best Saturday ever. And each one after that? Will be, too. Any day that we wake up in a world made for love, we are witnesses to glory. Witnesses to grace. Witnesses to the heart of God.

My kids call me to come see, and I head out barefoot into the sunshine. 4 flower boxes planted to bursting and the dirt smudged smiles of the people I love the very most in the whole world who did the work - for me. I'm calling it - best day ever.

The best days aren't the ones that go according to our plans. They are the ones that go according to His.

The heat of the sun beats right down and where I'm standing I feel it - all of us baptized in light.

"The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in."

~C.S. Lewis

{It's Mindful Mothering Mondays, a day to take a deep breath and write out your mothering journey, whatever form it takes. A day to link up for encouragement from others who are in this same phase of life. A day of writing out the trials and triumphs and what you're learning right where you are, right now.

You might post recent struggles or thoughts. Maybe just a picture or a quote. Or maybe you'll just come here and read the links that others post. Whatever form your participation takes, this is a day for you.
We are all in this, together. Together, we can encourage and build one another up, be honest with our shortcomings and strengthened by community to keep fighting the good fight.

I chose Mondays because what Mama doesn't need a little encouragement on a Monday? As such, I'll have the link up ready to go on Sunday night for you to begin submitting your links.

I hope you'll meet with me each Monday! Here's what to do ~

Link up your post below. Remember to put the link to the exact post you want to link, and not just your blog url. Include in your post a link back here so others who want to join in can find us! And visit some other Mamas who have linked up.

Post the community graphic within your post, so people who are reading your Mindful Mothering post can come back here and find the rest of us!

Invite the writers of your favorite blogs to join in!

Share this meme with others on facebook and twitter. This community is for all moms, and the more that participate, the more we will be able to enjoy!!}

Grab the graphic here: