Lily and I lay snuggled up in her bed. Her fabric banner sways above us, residual movement from jumping on her bed moments before. Her head is nestled against my chest and she is squeezing my hand tight. I am praying for her as her breath slows beside me. As soon as I finish, Lily asks me if she can sing to me. Of course I appease her and she begins to sing a melody which includes lyrics from ‘My God is So Big’ (a Sunday school song from church) and ‘Hey Jude’ by the Beatles. It is both comical and impossibly sweet. As she starts the second verse she looks into my eyes as if I’m her baby girl and strokes my face with her hand. I don’t expect it, so I flinch, but she continues; lovingly moving her fingers back and forth, back and forth, across my cheek bones and my chin. As she wraps up her song, I realize THIS IS IT. It’s the best part of my day. The climax of this stay-at-home mom gig. My mountaintop moment. The moment when I can’t imagine being any other place in the entire world except right here with my girl.
A few weeks back I read an article about a momma with cancer. As I read this mom’s story, I found her to be courageous and wise and had an insight everyone needed to hear, especially moms. She wrote of finding a mountaintop moment everyday. (I wish I could link to the article, but I lost it in the world wide web.) While reading about the way this woman finds a mountaintop moment everyday, I realized the act was so simple, yet so intentional. It seemed imperative to all of us to find beauty every single day. Almost immediately I knew this was a practice I needed in my life.
When people talk about living a meaningful, present life lots of practices and ideas come up. Gratitude journals, putting devices away, declaring beliefs and values, guarding the calendar, meditation and prayer, and letting the most important things dictate how time and resources are spent. And I am on board with all of those things. However, this simple mountaintop moment practice seems different to me somehow. It seems easy and yet like one of the most powerful things I could do in a 24 hour period. To recognize something good and true and beautiful right in front of me is an important and astounding work. And I dare say it could be life changing and attitude altering.
What if I decided everyday to look for my mountaintop moment? What if I decided to keep my eyes always open, through the spilled milk on the floor, the unmade dinner at 5:00, and (my) crying child in Target? What if I decided to find the moment, everyday, paying attention enough to the life happening around me? What if I decided this wasn’t something for my to-do list, but something for my heart? What if I decided to seek out the good, the worthy, the beautiful?
After asking myself those questions, I knew it was possible. Every single day there is a beautiful mountaintop-like moment worthy of my attention. Whether it’s Lily singing to me in bed or my littles laughing in the bathtub or the face of my husband as he walks up the stairs to give me some relief after a long day, I can find it. I know I can. And when I do, I’m going to sit in it a bit. Linger and be fully present so I can enjoy the sweetness of it. Because we all know for every mountaintop moment there can be many more moments spent down in the valley. As they say, our lives are made up of small moments, minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day, week after week. And I don’t want another day to go by when I am not anticipating the beauty of my very own life. I want to seek the mountaintop moments.