On November 22, I got a random message from someone I barely knew. Hi!! Weird question… are you home? I thought it was odd, but odd things often happen to me, and I said, “Haha. Yes, what’s up?” The next text came: Wondering if I could stop by real quick? I know…so random… Just trusting…
Author: mackenziechester
My name is Mackenzie Chester. I am a wife and mother of seven. Welcome to my blog, The Sacred Everyday, where I write about waking up to the miracle of ordinary life through prayer, reflection, and creative practice.
10 Weeks of Podcasting! And an Update…
Dear friends, I am just stopping by to tell you that I have just posted a new podcast episode, and I’d love to share it with you. This is my 10th week of podcasting, and I am loving having these conversations about all the things that are on my heart. If you haven’t given the…
Every Morning I Wake Up in an Ocean
Every morning I wake up in an ocean. Sometimes the waters are calm, sometimes they are tumultuous, raging with storms that seem to never subside. They are always over my head. It is easy to slip under the waters of fear. It is effortless to drown in downpours of sorrow. It is second-nature to be…
Enter Your Year With Vision: An Online Journaling Retreat
Friends, we are about to start a new year, and I want to enter into it with purpose and a clear vision of how I can step into the role that God has designed for my life. I feel a deep need to quiet the noise, take a holy breath, and pray, journal, and reflect…
Buy One, Give One Free Journaling Course
If you have been wanting to try the Innermost Journaling Course, now is the time! Between now and Christmas Eve, I am running a special Buy One, Give One Free promotion on my course. You simply purchase the course, email me at mackenziechester@yahoo.com with the subject: B1G1, and I will reply with a gift certificate…
For Which My Heart Is Yearning
In the busyness of the the day, I forget that I am soul and spirit. I move, like a machine, through the mechanics of my life: Head turning at a sudden cry, arms lifting baby, voice humming softly like a washing machine. Fingers folding laundry, hands scrubbing muffin pans, feet moving through rooms, ears listening,…
25 New Traditions for the Christmas Season (Creative Family Advent)
This December, I am going to say yes. To gathering all of my children around me, to entering into a sacred space of being together, creating new memories, relishing old traditions, and leaning deeply into the beauty and comfort of Christmas. I am going to shift my perspective from getting things done, to being there….
Grief and the Path of Beauty
Let me start by saying I do not pretend to be an expert on grief, and I truly hope I never am an expert on grief. My life has been colored by it just enough for me to know that this is something that’s going to stay with me forever. And that it is worth…
Questions to My Future Self (A Mother Wants to Know How It All Turns Out)
This morning I am checking in with my future self. I have to gently wake her, because it is 4:30 a.m., and she is no longer in the habit of waking with babies all through the night. When she sees me standing there over her bed in the dark, she doesn’t mind. She treats me…
Other People’s Houses
My daughters and I pulled in at Michelle’s house before she arrived. We knew we were welcome to go on in. By the time I wrangled with my couple of bags, the girls had already run inside. I entered the front door, set down my things, and walked into the kitchen. This picture is what…
Surrendering to a Season (Thoughts at the Beginning of My Ninth Pregnancy)
This morning I drank a cup of tea for the first time in six weeks. Rich Assam with a swirl of cream. The taste of it brought tears to my eyes. It is October, and nothing complements the first of the crimsons and golds like a steaming mug of fragrant tea. I am just rounding…
Life Can Be Full of Surprises
I am going to be painfully honest. There have been so many times over the last nine years of blogging that I have wrestled with the deep desire that I have to share my writing. I have asked myself why I continue to keep showing up, why the blank spaces in my mind always bring…