“I am just trying to figure out my life, one day at a time. I am just trying to discern which direction to walk. I desperately want a clear path to follow. Someone to hand me a map and say, “Here. This is your life. You will maximize it if you take this road, turn…
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.
Standing at the Edge of a World
A woman on the verge of birth Is standing at the edge of a world. She moves through the rhythms Of her normal lifeWhile preparing to travel,Led by the loving voice of God,Somewhere no one else can follow.The hidden path that opens itselfOnly once.The passage she aloneCan pass through. As I have been moving through…
Beauty in the Midst of Darkness
There is so much darkness in this world. It presses in against us. In the middle of the night, it enters into our minds in the quiet spaces and works to leave a shadow that lingers even when the morning comes. We wake to light, but its brilliance is dimmed by the memory of those…
Such a Short Road to Travel (A Poem About Birth)
I lie awakeCalculating the distance From womb to the world. It is such a short road to travel. You are nearly here, Less than arms-length away There is but the patient openingOf one long-awaited flowerThe quiet mechanicsOf one perfectly-crafted keyTurning in the lock of my bodyAnd moving through Blood and water ring of fireLife and…
Motherhood and Creative Fire (Podcast #15)
One of my greatest challenges as a mother has been finding the time and energy to tend to my creative life. In this episode, I am talking about creative fire–how it looks different in different seasons of motherhood and how important it is to nurture creative practice even in the blur of raising babies and…
The Birth Story to Come: Impressions of a Life Yet Unseen
I love to have conversations about birth. No matter how many times I find myself here, in the “any day now” space between pregnancy and delivery, I am struck by the sheer power of the experience of bringing a baby into this world. There is nothing routine about it. No matter how many times you…
Singing Out a Baby: A Birth Story (Podcast #14)
You can also listen and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Rune’s labor and delivery will serve as a metaphor for every difficult season of my life from here on out. In today’s podcast, I am sharing the story of his beautiful birth as well as thoughts on faith and fear, rest and…
One Small Garden: Tending the Life I Am Given
How do I keep finding myself here in the middle of the night? I should be sleeping. I tossed and turned an hour before surrendering to the river-rush of words that swept me up in its current and lifted my body out of bed and onto the quiet bank of the 3 a.m. kitchen table….
Becoming Brave: Thoughts About Birth at 4 a.m. (Podcast #13)
You can also listen and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Just a few weeks away from my ninth delivery, I am thinking of the profound influence that birth has had on my life. How it has caused me to lean on the perfect strength of God over and over again and made…
Restlessness and Surrender (Podcast #12)
You can also listen and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Restlessness is an invitation to trust God, to praise Him for all He has done, and to pray with greater fervency for vision. In this episode of the podcast, I am sharing my real struggles with restlessness and how it has moved…
An Open Letter to the Stranger in the Grocery Store
Walking through the produce section of the grocery store, I pass a stranger. Our eyes meet for a flicker of a moment, smiling, and then we move on. I wonder if this stranger has been in my house. If this was one of the dozens of anonymous people who came into my home while I…
In the Wake of a Miracle (A First Attempt at Words)
*This post is the beginning of an attempt to respond to the Great Miracle that has happened in our lives through The Everyday Good. 2 a.m. In my bed, I wake to words that press in around me and won’t let me sleep. I get up and make my way to the quiet basement with…