Moments of stillness. Ones big enough that pour a liquid of good into your soul. The warm and nourishing kind. Like tea cupped hands on an early autumn morning. With comfy jammies and your favorite slippers. Those moments are stolen ones more often than not for Moms. We find our daily pressing down band-aid corners, rushing to soccer practices and dance rehearsals, too. Buzzing through drive-thru restaurants for a hurry-up dinner in between. And our endings? Well they are well after the sun has sunk as we pack school lunches and fold laundry late after our family has found their heads atop fluffy pillows where dreams meld them more into magical.
Where are you? Where do you bring your sense of self into this landscape we call family? If any of the above resonates with you, you’re most likely stuck. Like a fast food french fry underneath the car seat. Or like the wayward coins and Legos pieces left crammed behind couch cushions.
Helpless.
Wedged.
Uncertain.
I live there with you from time to time. I’m much akin to the crusty french fry life. Motherhood manages me; I don’t manage it. We signed on with an utmost honor for this task. Little did we know, that our John Hancock would steal away the person we belong to first and foremost. And always. Ourselves.
Reading. It’s like this sacred vacuum. With a high powered motor I am sucked out of stuck. And when I allow its velocity to propel me back into my place, I am ever so thankful that my tea is still piping hot resting there on the table next to the rocker with my favorite slippers. There they sit just below and catty cornered near the footstool.
Becoming unstuck. How? I simply make the choice to carve. Carve out time for me. This time doesn’t look like extra pretty and well manicured nails or hopeful new outfits thrifted and bought. Although those escapes are absolutely cathartic and joyous, those carvings are not the variety that bring me to a place of well roundness.
My carving looks like reading. Taking moments, intentional ones, out of my day to spend inside the pages of books that bring me to a place of better.
- The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. I’ve read this book 3 times. It is absolutely a must when it comes to finding you and living that you out in your everyday. It’s short and so very applicable.
- Beautiful Feet by Jessica Leep Fick. This author is full of life which is most evident in her writing. She speaks of the easy and awesome ways we can share hope and our faith.
- Rising Strong by Brene Brown. I had the wonderful privilege of spending an entire day at this book launch seminar in Nashville. I received a signed copy and met Brene. It’s her latest book and packed full of ways to live more wholeheartedly.
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Good gravy, does this author rock. This book is masterful and hopefully practical and melding our stories of life into one worthy of writing down and reading.
- In This House We Will Giggle by Courney DeFeo. The power of healthy laughter in the home is profound. This author capitalizes on the growing goodness of raising a young family and teaching them the joy that surrounds them in their everyday.
- Mission Ready Marriage by Claire Wood. An author whose words are penned from walking the walk of an Army wife. Her advice is real, thoughtful and right on the money when it comes to creating a strong centeredness of family while serving.
- Pretty by Tammy Straight. This author does a masterful job of encouraging readers to look beyond the superficialities we use to protect ourselves or to impress others. She is spot on with our call to be authentic and rise above the superficial.
- Reclaiming Home by Krista Gilbert. This author is passionate about bringing family back to center even in those teen years. Her ideas are so very practical for the busy family. This book even includes activities for age appropriate chores for children as well as great reasons why home is really the place where goodness grows best.
- Marked for Life by Crystal Woodman Miller. This author shares her life as a Columbine High School survivor. Her story is impacting and so very powerful. The struggle of being a survivor and how that really looks and feels is portrayed so very beautifully in these pages.
My slippers are on. My tea is steeping. And my heart is ready to feel like me again. Motherhood is manageable. Better yet, it’s an even more magnificent gig when we take the time to find ourselves inside pages where stillness brings us to a place of better.
Do you have any great reads to add to this list? Share with us in the comments!
