Hearts as Full as Our Bellies

Last Updated on August 21, 2019 by Stacy Averette

Lately, I’ve had lots of people comment with great excitement about some big things going on in our life. I’m certain my deer-in-the-headlights reaction isn’t quite what they expect. Stuttering and stumbling I utter a few statements that at their worst makes me seem ungrateful and at best make me feel like the world’s most awkward 53-year-old woman.

Here’s the explanation that I’d love to give in those moments when words elude me.

There are some big things going on in our lives and I am excited about them. But it’s my ordinary days where the mundane becomes sacred, that I live for and love most. And how I live on those ordinary days is what gives meaning to big moments and makes them worth remembering.

Meet Me in the Middle

We each drove over an hour to meet in the middle. On a hot August day, we needed to see and be seen by the ones who know and love us best. Plans were rearranged just so the seven of us could pack like sardines in a loud and very busy chain restaurant. We laughed and told stories and polished off more than a few bowls of chips and salsa.

With our hearts as full as our bellies, we made our way to the edge of the hill.

The warm summer breeze muffled the hum of traffic below and a bit of shade made the temperature bearable. We lingered a little longer.

Time stood still.

No agenda.

No shopping list.

Nothing to do except be.

Be with.

Be with one another.

If you think the only record I’ll have of this day is the grainy pics made on an old iPhone, you’re wrong.

Ordinary days are what the best memories are made of.

A Childhood of Ordinary Days

Mowing grass. Cleaning the church. Bagging groceries. Summer softball leagues. Family birthday parties.

I don’t have many childhood memories of long family vacations, mainly because we didn’t take any. In case you’re tempted to feel sorry for me, don’t. The first eighteen years of my life were where I learned about the beauty and blessing of ordinary days.

A few Saturdays each summer my grandparents would close the little general store they owned and my family, my mom’s sister’s family and my grandparents would go to the river. We’d waterski, picnic, and swim. The days never seemed to last long enough. Exhausted and sunburned we’d load up in the late afternoon and head home. A few miles down the road our caravan would always stop at the same empty lot. My mouth waters even now just thinking about the big watermelon Pawpaw would pull out of the truck. The biggest, sharpest knife ever was used to cut a sweet, juicy slice for each of us. We’d sit in the dirt still wearing our wet bathing suits and eat it down to the rind, spittin’ seeds after each mouthful, always saving the leftovers to feed the horses when we got home. A handful of water from an old Igloo cooler served to wash our sticky hands and faces.

With our hearts as full as our bellies, we’d load up for the drive home.

I can’t recall any photos that capture us eating watermelon on the side of the road. And yet, some 40+ years later, it’s a picture-perfect memory of mine. I can’t see their faces. I can’t hear conversations or voices. I don’t know exactly how old I was and I’m not even sure I could take you back to spot where it all happened. But there’s something about the way it made me feel.

Safe.

Beloved.

Happy.

It’s a memory worth holding on to.

Ordinary Days

It’s where the mundane becomes sacred because God is near.

Your life and mine are measured by minutes and moments.

I want to make memories worth holding on to. I want to make others feel safe, beloved, and happy.

I know you want that, too?

We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing- that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life. -Oswald Chambers