Love's Embrace in our Middle Places

When the in-between places of life hold extraordinary Holy.

“Look mom,” my son said as he stared out our farmhouse windows into the yard. “The Japanese maple tree’s leaves are already turning colors.”

We are into September now. School is in full swing, the cooler weather has (finally) started sharing its crispness with us in Georgia—cozy blankets feel warmer on cooler mornings, and the late afternoon breeze invites me to wrap my sweaters a little tighter around myself as I play catch outside with my youngest son. I feel as though September came upon us quickly in retrospect to the whole year, but personally I welcomed it with open arms. I needed a break from the hot Georgia sun. I needed to smell the cooler air in the mornings. I was dying to pull any sort of long-sleeved shirt to wear out of my closet.

September, to me, feels like such a middle month—we are not in the heat and schedules of summer, yet we are not into the full swing of fall and the onslaught of holiday festivities. We are within the in-between of changing seasons.

Life always has us moving from season to season—the outside changes we notice in our yard foliage often reflect unseen changes that are happening in our souls.

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Currently, my family is in the middle of seasons—we are learning, growing, and healing. I am in the middle of personal changes on many levels. Our state has been in the middle of grieving a school shooting. Our country is in the middle of political campaigns. Everywhere I turn or look, something is changing around me—

• A child hits a new milestone

• Another friend has a child in college

• New job announcements

• Babies being born

• Loved ones passing

• Ministries entering new seasons

• A diagnosis dramatically alters the future

Stop for a moment and notice what emotions rise in you when you consider being in the middle of life seasons?

Maybe it’s fear for the future. Maybe it’s hope for a new chapter. Maybe it’s regret in what happened before. Maybe it’s discontentment for what is. Maybe it’s loneliness that floods your heart with a desire to just be known where you are now.

But what about the seemingly smaller, middle places of our days and months? The moments that feel too small to name, but also have a deep impact on our soul. I find myself often looking at times so intently at the bigger, more flashy major seasons of in-between life. I long for bigger changes to manifest in my life and in those I walk closely with. Although these transitions and middle seasons are happening all the time, all around us—I often have overlooked the middle, mundane, in-between spaces that are just as holy and life changing.

The in-between, everyday moments hold the extraordinary fingerprints of God.

What if we slowed ourselves down a little bit more in daily life to notice the transitions and in-between spaces that are radiating with the beauty of the Holy?

There is always evidence of the holy in our lives. The invitations that are open and available to be in the presence of God are infused into the seemingly most in-between parts of our days.

“The God we seek already shines through our eyes. May our seeking not blind us to what already lies ‘hidden in plain sight all around us’” - Martin Laird

There is a monastic prayer tradition call “Statio Prayer” which is also referenced as invitations to a “Holy Pause.” It’s the posture of slowing ourselves down enough to pause throughout the middle, mundane moments of our day and notice the whispers of God. We are invited to hold our exhaustion, take a breath and ask God, “How are you present with me in this moment?” and “How am I present with you?”

I wonder what permission we need to hear in this overarching season of life, yet also in the simple, everyday in-betweens moments—to just become present with ourselves and God. No expectations. No to-do lists. No right or wrong answers. Just to be with Jesus and notice Him being with you—to feel His arms wrapped around you in the middle of your day.

• May we be invited to let Love embrace—when we rush our kids out the door to school and notice we’re still wearing house shoes.

• May we be invited to let Love embrace—when we are walking from one meeting to another, exhausted and frustrated.

• May we be invited to let Love embrace—when we say goodbye to the spouse in the morning, turn around to tired kids, and just want to crawl back in bed.

• May we be invited to let Love embrace—when we step on a plane to travel for work.

• May we be invited to let Love embrace—when we drive to and from practices.

• May we be invited to let Love embrace—when we make dinner, pick it up, or miss it altogether.

May we be invited to let Love embrace when we walk amidst the middle, in-between moments of our lives—holding the tender presence of the Holy.

After my son’s noticing of our tree, I look up to follow his gaze out the window and sure enough—the tree was starting to turn colors. It was very subtle and seemingly easy to be missed. But my son noticed the smallest change in the middle of the ordinary—that resulted in a tiny moment of awe and beauty. A moment which was precious to hold and notice for what it was, and then I graciously let it fall into the beauty of the remainder of the day.

May you be invited to slow down, notice the Holy, and be loved by Him in the in-between spaces of your life today.

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