The Mundane Holy of For Now

Living in the season of life that you are in

The cool, crisp fall morning air in Middle Tennessee meets me as I slip out of bed and down the stairs into our living room. Even after getting up with our baby during the night, my tired body knows I need to live into the rhythms and routines that keep me grounded. Sometimes, after the alarm rouses, I turn over and feel the freedom to sleep a little longer. Most of the time though, I tiptoe on the cold floorboards out into the living room—praying that this early morning time will hold quiet for my soul.

The darkness of morning is my only semblance of outward stillness in this season of life.

I quietly continue to start the pot of coffee, wrap myself up in a sweater and cozy up with a blanket on the couch to begin my early morning routine—prayer, writing, and yoga. I open the computer to begin typing when I hear the all too familiar sound—little feet sliding out of their bed, and then the hard walking of a half-awake little girl coming out into the living room. Her hands are rubbing tired eyes, as she mumbles something incomprehensible. I close the computer and welcome her into my lap and sigh. “For now,” I slowly whisper to myself as I stroke tangled blonde hair and wrap up chilly hands in the blanket that was just mine only a few moments prior.

This is the season where holy interruptions so often enter the quietness of my mornings. Whether it’s an infant teething, or blonde-headed girls that can’t sleep (it used to be wavy-haired boys, and how quickly that changes)—the stillness of my mornings are often not only held alone these day.

For now will only come once. It won’t always stay. It won’t always be like this. But, for now, is the holy ground I get the honor of walking today.

A look at what my past “for now” held and how it’s changed over the years.

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Just like the seasons shifting, leaves turning, coffee flavors changing, clothes thickening, weather cooling—life shifts alongside it in an ebb and flow of humanity. What we navigate in the present, for now, changes within time. Sometimes we see the change and other times we wake up one morning and it takes us by surprise.

For now, is the phrase that I’m holding in this season of life, and I wonder how you, dear reader, might be holding it in your journey too?

We live in a fast, instantaneous world, where it’s so easy to miss what is going on around us in our everyday lives. We live in a way that is always looking for “the next season” or “when the kids are older” or “when I’m done with school” or “when I get the promotion” or when… (you fill in the blank).

For now is a kind phrase I originally borrowed from Emily P. Freeman, reminding us that what is now, will not always be. That is not to say our now can’t be hard, exhausting, sleep-deprived, and full of things we wish it weren’t. A season of life can be full of beauty and joy, but it can also be hard and exhausting. When we hold the posture of, for now, we can gently look around at what our season holds and remember that Presence is always near. We can be reminded that what is now, will not always be, and that is okay.

Holding open hands in our lives releases us to the movements of the Trinity and the dance they are doing together in this world and how it weaves our lives by the thread of Love.

Where might God be inviting you to notice His love in the holy moments of your season?

For now, prayers are tiny whispers of nearness amidst nap times and schoolwork.

For now, coffee often goes cold and has to be warmed up four different times.

For now, hours driven in the car become holy worship sessions.

For now, phone calls in advocacy seem to barely make a dent in needs.

For now, therapy appointments and soccer practices fill the schedule.

For now, questions drown out the answers.

For now, is a beautiful invitation to experience Jesus.

For now, may also make us want to bang our head against the wall in frustration.

For now, is holy, sacred ground.

Let it be so, today.

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