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(one you can read in three minutes while someone is asking for a snack)

The kids are buzzing, the calendar is full, and I’m over here just trying to remember where I put the scissors and tape. (Spoiler: no one ever knows where the tape is. It’s the law.)

And right in the middle of all of it, math lessons half-finished, the dishwasher waiting to be filled with another load, and the faint sound of someone arguing over whose turn it is to do the advent calendar, I feel that tug.

Slow down.
Look up.
Remember why you’re doing all this.

We talk a lot in December about preparation. Preparing gifts. Preparing meals. Preparing our homes for guests and our calendars for chaos. But Advent is really about preparing our hearts.

So here’s a simple little devotion for you (for us) because our hearts deserve a moment, too.

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A December Thought to Hold Onto

In Luke 2:19, right after the shepherds rushed in with all their awe and noise and excitement, it says:
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

Treasure and ponder.
Two verbs that feel almost impossible in the middle of December.

Mary wasn’t removed from the chaos, despite how the nativity sets make her look, she was in a stable with a newborn and unexpected guests and probably a hundred things she didn’t feel prepared for. But in the middle of it all, she chose to notice. She tucked away the goodness of God like little treasures in her heart.

Listen, if she could do it next to stinky animals, post unmedicated childbirth, maybe we can do it at the kitchen table.

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A Simple Prayer for Today

Lord, in the middle of this beautifully chaotic season, help me treasure the small things.
The sticky candy-cane kisses.
The way my children wiggle through our Bible time.
The quiet moments that last only long enough for me to breathe.

Help me slow down enough to see You…
in my home,
in my family,
and in the work of my hands.

Give me a heart like Mary’s:
soft, steady, awake to wonder.
Let me treasure and ponder today, even if it’s just for a moment.
Amen.

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One Question to Carry With You

What is one small thing, one tiny, ordinary moment, that you can treasure today?

Write it in your notes app. Whisper it to yourself while folding laundry. Tell your kids at bedtime.
Hold onto it like a scrap of gold.

This season isn’t about doing more.
It’s about noticing more.

May this December be full of small treasures you don’t miss.

Mine for today is this: sitting in my husband’s recliner, watching the sun rise from our living room windows and holding my 7 year-old daughter close, smelling her, kissing her, speaking kindness over her, and loving her deeply. How much longer will I be able to hold her? I don’t know, but I did today, and I thank God for it.