Long Days of Small Things Motherhood as a Spiritual Discipline [Paperback]

Rich, soul-inspiring practices for moms who have neither quiet nor time.
Dirty laundry, crayon-smeared bills, and smashed crackers . . . And there’s your Bible—buried under a pile of diapers. Bleary-eyed from lack of sleep, without a moment of peace and quiet, you wonder if the spiritual life you crave is even possible. But God sees you. He designed this parenting journey, after all. He understands the chaos of motherhood. And he joins you in everything—whether you’re scrubbing the floor, nursing a fussy newborn, or driving to soccer practice. Catherine McNiel invites you to connect with God right here, in the sacred mundane of every mothering moment.Catherine has written so beautifully of a woman’s spiritual pathway to God. She has found the words to express what so many of us experience: repetitiveness of service that becomes a mysterious celebration of the sacredness of life and the presence of God. I wish I had written this book myself: a book that celebrates the spaghetti days of family, the wonder of pregnancy and birthing, and, above all, the sacredness of the journey.Writing in the tradition of Brother Lawrence, Catherine McNiel shows readers how to keep company with God in the everyday. But she is no monastic. She is a mother, caught in the turbulence of life with small children. How I wish I’d had this book—and her example—when I was just beginning my journey into motherhood.Here’s a book for every Christian parent forced to smile through an exhortation to “enjoy every moment; it’s all over so fast!” Catherine McNiel doesn’t urge you to “make time for God” in early parenting but rather to see God there already: in the trial, in the joy, in the leaky diapers, plugged ducts, and scraped knees. Instead of being one more call to “sleep when the baby sleeps,” her book can help a weary parent wake up a bit more to the eternal life they’l3,