In and Out…

Breaths Illuminated (Photo credit: Dunnock_D)

Just breathe. I have to remind myself of that often throughout the day.  I have to remind myself to enjoy the moments of each day and stop rushing them and ticking them of my endless, eternal, ‘to-do’ list…As though my life is one big task. It’s not- well- I don’t think it is.  Life should not be a task or taxing…it is meant to be loved and lived and breathed through.

I love to run. I love to walk. I love to hike. When asked what I want to do for leisure, my most common response is walk…or hike. For Mother’s Day I have invited my family to take me hiking in the woods. I can’t wait. I need a respite from suburbia. I need to feel the organic crunch of a trail beneath my feet. It seems in those moments I breathe best. Breathing in the pure, God-smells. I love the mixed scent of brackish water and Cyprus. Combined they are a fragrance un-equated by man. I am able to breathe.

I have a ton on my plate on any given day… I am a wife. A mother.  A rookie homeschool momma. I am a baseball team mom (and avid fan I might add). A volunteer. A church lady. I am a friend. A confidant. I am not extraordinary or different than anyone of my contemporaries. We are all women of great courage trying desperately to live honorable and productive lives…lives that give meaning and significance. And, while to some, the notion to remember to breathe would be preposterous, sometimes it isn’t until the end of the day when my body seems to decompress from all of the activity that I am able to finally take a full, lung filling breath.

I am learning as I read through the Word that in order that I may truly see the significance of each joyful moment, each cross I bear, each step I take in God’s grace, sometimes I need to step away from it all to catch my breath. To take in a cleansing breath. It feels so good.

Breathing is related to perspective. When we are out of breath we feel the clutch of fear and anxiety. When our load is light and fresh we ‘breathe easy’. When our children are making crazy and running wild we encourage them to ‘take a breath’.

When I breathe in the goodness of the Lord, I am breathing in grace and mercy and forgiveness and love. I am filled with air so pure. I am filled with Him. He helps my lungs open to their maximum capacity. He is the breath of life.

I have a plaque in my home that reads, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” These measurable moments of breathing are not just the joyful, but the ones that leave our chest heaving. The Lord uses all our life circumstances to oxygenate our lifeless bodies. He gives each moment a way of refining and shaping us for His story. He has created in us a desire to breathe in His majesty. He is abundant and life-giving.

Breathe, beloved.

Breathe in the moment by moment of each day…The stifling breath, the easy breath, the moments that take your breath away.

Just breathe.

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