The time we left the little houseIn a whispering rainAnd ran to the shore,Umbrellas in handI became, again, a child,My daughters, dearest friendsWe three, splashing, fully dressedIn the lapping wavesAnd laughing. The experience I imagined in full sunSand glittering, shore shining,A perfect day at sea,Dimmed, bending to theShimmery silver and muted beautyOf an unexpected rain…
Author: mackenziechester
My name is Mackenzie Chester. I am a wife and mother of eight. Welcome to my blog, The Sacred Everyday, where I write about waking up to the miracle of ordinary life.
Secrets in Every Story
There are secrets in every story. What we show the world is a carefully curated set of words and images to represent an entire life. Most often, the details we leave out are of greater importance than the ones that we can speak out in a coherent sentence. We are so much more than our…
Searching for More (Podcast #30)
It is human nature to want more. We are so easily caught up in the search–a better life for our children, a more meaningful existence, convenience, efficiency, easier, faster, better… There is a searching that leaves us restless with what we have been given. And there is another searching that steps back, reevaluates what we…
My Daughter Plays the Piano
My daughter plays the piano and I am carried through time. I hear the first chorded cry, after the lifesong of her body broke open my womb and burst forth like a melody. Our voices, separate, but blended as one. The movement of her youth is passed. A lively staccato that made us dance and…
Walk Through My Journal
I started this journal last May, the day Haven was born. My first entry is a prayer of gratitude, written in the hospital hours after that sweet baby was placed in my arms. Journaling is the way I pray, the way I process my life, the way I move from fear or discontentment into a…
Nothing is Wasted: Motherhood and the Surrendered Life (Podcast #29)
When I look back over what I dreamed my life would be 19 years into my marriage, I could not have imagined the impact motherhood would have on me. So many of the goals and aspirations of my life have shifted and refocused themselves into the everyday rhythms and rituals of raising a family and…
Rhythms for Motherhood and the Creative Life (Podcast 28)
This is the story of my life as a creative soul–going all the way back to my childhood, my teenage years, the early years of college and marriage, and then into the wonderful and difficult and all-consuming seasons of motherhood (15 years and 8 children into it..). I share the things I truly needed as…
The Sleeping Face of My Beautiful Boy
After the lullaby, I see the sleeping face of my beautiful boy, two years old. And at once, all the world is still. Time moves forth from this moment in reluctant ripples. Slow-moving reflections of memories, past and future that will become a whole life. Separate from my own, but always flowing in and out…
My Heart Trembles and Sings:Thoughts on the Beauty and Fragility of Life (Podcast #27)
Have you ever had an experience that startled you into a fresh awareness of the fragility of human life? This podcast is a putting-to-words of just such an experience. Last week my baby boy and I were helicoptered into the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta with a medical emergency which is thankfully resolved now but has…
Show and Tell
Hello friends. A couple of new things I want to share with you. Innermost Journaling Course is now available in Patreon. If you have been curious about my journaling course, now is the time to act! I just uploaded and restructured the entire course for my wonderful Patreon supporters. If you join me on Patreon…
my heart trembles and sings
my own dear child eyes of bluest bright, alight body in holy motionbrimming over with lifesongand the beating, beating, beating heart beautiful breath that flows inside you like a melody for the gift of your love and living presence my heart trembles and sings (This is the image I saw outside my office window as…
I Go Back to the Ocean of My Childhood
When you were a childdid you lose yourself at the seashoreand forget life aches? Did you run to the waters laughing? I go backto the ocean of my childhoodwhere I was a girlphotographed by my mother,my father looking out to sea I want the waves to whisper somethingbut they are stillsuspended in memorythey do not…