Lisa-Jo Baker
About the Author

Lisa-Jo is the best-selling author of Never Unfriended and Surprised by Motherhood. Her newest book, The Middle Matters: Why That (Extra)Ordinary Life Looks Really Good on You invites us to get a good look at our middles and gives us permission to embrace them.

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. Thanks. This is a good blog to read. It comforts and it encourages. This is living!

  2. Lisa-Jo,
    I loved this post…I read it and I laughed, I sighed, I reflected, and I said, “Yes” she gets it!! Even as my kids got older into their middle and high school years, I felt a need to be present – there in the ordinary – because you never know when a moment of glory is coming and I didn’t want to miss it. Middle and high school aged boys open up even less and by being present and intentional we catch the thoughts and questions of these little-boys-in-big-packages, blankie-toting boys. So blessed by your post this am.
    Blessings,
    Bev xx

  3. So beautifully put, Lisa-Jo; it’s so easy to to lose sight of what’s right under our nose! My we never lose the wonder and awe that comes with those babies God gives us!

  4. Thanks for this post – i need to cherish every moment with my babies – thanks you

  5. Hi Lisa-Jo, Today, my husband and I will celebrate twenty-two years of marriage. Some days, I lose sight of what really matters. Thank you for this post.

  6. Love this, Lisa-Jo. I was thinking about this very thing this morning while I sat at the kitchen table for my quiet time and my little came clomp clomping down the stairs, shirtless (of course) with his wake up face and fuzzy hair spot from his pillow, still hanging onto “Fwog.” He peeks around the corner, to see if I tell him its too early to be up, and when I open my arms instead, he stomps run over and I can still pick him up and put him in my lap. He snuggles right into my shoulder and we just sit for a few minutes before the day begins. This is the good stuff in life. God, help me never ever forget.

  7. It’s all too easy to let the little things, the beautiful moments of less than perfection, the random, unsolicited “big fat hugs” so freely given by an adoring 3 year old princess, the glorious sounds of laughter, the precious childhood amazement and wide eyed wonder in everyday life slip by us without so much as a passing thought. With so much happening in our growing family and so much still needing to be done yet to make ready for the arrival of our second little princess I often find myself, between being overwhelmed and exhausted, so focused on my dreadfully behind “to do list” that I sometimes miss out on such wondrous moments. It’s in moments like this, quiet and still, that God gently reminds me that this life is about far more than what I need to get done, more than the floors that desperately need mopping, more than all the work needed to prepare the nursery and remodel Autumn’s “big girl suite”, more than my own anxieties and worries about the future… Life is happening all around me, the here and now present, and that the most extraordinary things are the beautiful, simple, catch you off guard moments that I often take for granted… It’s my sincere prayer that when the kids are grown and living beautiful moments of their own that I’ll never look back with regret for not having cherished the gifts so graciously given to me in my own precious moments with them.

    • H sister these are such precious times. Do take time to cherish them. I worked three jobs as a single mom and missed so many perishable moments. In my twilight years, these are m major regrets.

    • Yea I get caught up in the “to-dos” just as much as the next person. And so I’m so grateful when I’ve slowed down enough to recognize my extraordinary moments as they sneak up on me.

  8. This is a very busy season in our home and I needed this reminder to stop and breathe in the extraordinary all around me. The other evening I took my granddaughter outside onto the deck and we got up close and personal with a tree frog (they’re everywhere in Virginia! Why is this?), even gently touching it and pronouncing it “weird”. These are the moments that we should cherish and long for, reaching past the to-do list to find open space where we can just be.

  9. P. S. My ten year old still sleeps with her blankie too. Don’t tell her I told you though.

  10. What great reminder for each of us to watch for the extra in our ordinary day. May we have many of those today. Yesterday as I was hanging clothes on my clothesline I was blessed with a bird taking a bath in our backyard pond and a handful of raspberries for a snack from my vines. A gift from my Father in my ordinary day.

    • Oh love that – yes, we will have chaos and busy and then right in the middle God will sneak up on us and surprise us with His glory, won’t He?

  11. i am not a mom so i haven’t experienced these “Wednesday night open call”.but i do know this is lovely and you are a great mom.

  12. This tugged at my heart so much. My sons are young adults now, but I treasure those cuddle-times from when they were young and now treasure the times we’re together just talking about whatever. My husband (their Dad) passed away 13 years ago which really punctuates the preciousness of the “ordinary” times together. Beautiful post!

    • Thanks Linda – and I look forward to getting to know my three as they move into this older phase now too. It’s’ a gift to see their personalities unfolding.

  13. Aaah, I found myself smiling all the way through every word Lisa Jo, especially this, “…and you can’t even believe these tall, gangly limbs were once folded in prayer inside your belly.” Thanks for this sweet reminder to thank the Lord for every “ordinary” gift. Stopping to do that right this minute. <3

    • I’m constantly astounded that I grew these tiny humans! 🙂 And constantly amazed at the people they’re becoming. I don’t always slow down enough to pay attention, but when I do it’s so beautiful!

    • Yea, because many days ARE a slog – and that’s OK too. Just makes me really grateful for the glimpses of glory I can catch between the dishes and the car pool 🙂

  14. Lisa Jo,

    This was such a joy to read, thank-you so much for posting it and reminding us not to take for granted anything in life.

    My son still hangs on to all four of his blankies too. It’s even hard to pry them away to be washed.

    Blessings,
    Penny

  15. Cracks me up! Lisa-Jo always just tells it like it is…bad breath, farts, you know, all of the real life stuff!!!

  16. Isn’t that true–that little boys like to spill their hearts at night. It doesn’t really seem to change as they get older either. You’re wise to be present in those moments, because when they are older, they’ll remember that you listen, and that they can trust you with their thoughts. Mercy, how they grow up fast.

    Thanks for the sweet reminder today to “feel the amen.” 🙂

  17. This makes me heart ache–the good kind–because it’s all so true. We are living the gift. Let us not down play it, bemoan it, or wish it away in next-stage longing. The ordinary glory is NOW. Yes, yes. Thanks, Lisa-Jo.

  18. Beautiful!! I loved this. Sometimes in the morning I look at my three piled under the covers and I look at my husband and sigh. Is this really my life?! There are elbows in my ribs and two of them are fighting over which show to set my phone to play via Netflix, oh and it’s 6AM…living the good life.

  19. Ty Lisa Jo! I love reading your blogs! My twin girls start kindergarten on August 5th and I find my heart so deeply saddened by this bc I love our time together! At the same time I’m really excited for their new adventure together in school! I’m SO grateful to God that I’ve been able to stay home with them since birth and now they’re going to half day kinder. Very hard pill to swallow, but the realization of this has deepened my appreciation of our time together. My little guy will be 3 this Friday and the time is just going by way too fast. Sigh…