A Moment of Holiness

Keep in mind that while I am writing this, Madelynne is sitting on the coffee table and alternately bouncing up and down. Belle is curled up in the armchair with all of her baby dolls and we’re watching Miracle on 34th Street. They’re not screaming, fighting, or doing exactly what they’ve been asked to do. But it’s enough that they’re quiet and (hopefully) not waking up Amelia.

I haven’t taken enough moments this Christmas. Enough breaths to be thankful and thoughtful. But I am reminded every time I have to leave my baking or my dishes or my piles and piles of laundry so that I can rock my baby to sleep just how blessed I am.

There’s something about having a new baby at Christmas that causes me to ponder even more that miracle God worked in the life of a young girl. When I’m holding her and marveling at the innocence and perfection she has been given, I wonder what Mary must have thought in those first months of Jesus’ life. Did she rock him to sleep? Did she sometimes wish she didn’t have to stop in the middle of a chore that has to be done so she could attend to his cry? Did she thank God for forcing her to slow down and just hold her baby?

Today I did. And I pray that in the days to come I will pause more to see the holiness that is all around me.