mackenziechester

Taking the Help That Comes (Podcast #42)

There are seasons of my life where I become acutely aware that I am in way over my head. When I want to hand my life over to someone who is more qualified to run it for me because I literally do not know what I’ve gotten myself into. I find that as overwhelming as…

The Paper Doll Club Returns

Dear friends, If you remember the Paper Doll Club (which Rosie, Paloma, and I started seven years ago), I hope you will be happy that we are going to continue it! This is just a fun collection of drawings we have done that can be printed, colored, cut-out and loved. On today’s post in my…

Homeschool and Creative Family Culture (Podcast #41)

I don’t want my children to be simply entertained through life. I want them to show up for the purposes for which God has created them. I want them to do the things that only they can do. I want them to have the living conversations that can only come from their hearts and mouths….

My Book Now Available!

*At this time, there is no hard copy of this book. It is only available as a free audiobook. Read on for details! Yesterday, I released my first book. On the outside, it looked like a normal day. Breakfast, homeschooling, lunch, book club, music lessons, supper, laundry, going to sleep with a baby in my…

One Small Garden (Ch. 7 Read Aloud of The Sacred Everyday Book) Podcast #40

We never really know what we are building with our lives. I try so hard to understand what it’s all about. I pray for vision, I research my past for clues, I desperately seek God for the next step. This is the life of faith. And though we may think our lives will look one…

Faith and Miracles (Ch. 6 Read-Aloud of The Sacred Everyday Book) Podcast #39

Are you going to have more? How do you feed them? How do you do it? And the often-implied but never-spoken–why??? When people see us with our eight children, they are curious. For the past 6 weeks, I have been reading aloud a chapter at a time of my book, The Sacred Everyday, A Search…

Questions at 2 a.m. (Chapter 5 Read Aloud of The Sacred Everyday Book) Podcast #38

If you find yourself lying awake at 2 a.m. asking questions that seem to have no answers, this episode is for you. Many of these reflections were written in the dead of night, stealing out of my dark bedroom, making my way to the kitchen table to pour out my heart to God, to empty…

Every Morning I Wake in an Ocean (Chapter 4 Read Aloud of The Sacred Everyday Book, available exclusively on the podcast, epsiode #37)

This chapter is a collection of writings that were born out of many difficult seasons of my life. The exhaustion of motherhood, the weight of raising a family, the struggle to find my breath after grief knocked the wind out of me. I share my search for hope and beauty in spite of, and often…

My New Book: Chapter 2 Read Aloud (Podcast #35)

I have been looking so forward to today, knowing I would be reading the next chapter of my book, The Sacred Everyday: A Search for the Exquisite Beauty of an Ordinary Life. This book does not yet exist in print form, and you can only find it here on my podcast, where I’m releasing these…

Chapter 1 of My Book, The Sacred Everyday: A Search for the Exquisite Beauty of an Ordinary Life (A Read-Aloud Podcast #34)

Today I am brimming over with emotion. I cannot hold these words in any longer. In this special edition of the podcast, I am reading aloud the first chapter of my new book, The Sacred Everyday: A Search for the Exquisite Beauty of an Ordinary Life. The book has not yet been published (I talk…

Open Journal: November 2020

I was four months pregnant with my eighth child. I was overflowing with words and ideas. I was wrestling with my ability to mother well while wielding a heartful of creative fire. I had recently rearranged a storage/utility closet in our cold, concrete, naked-insulation-ceilinged basement and made myself a makeshift office that had one electrical…