Things I Love, September 2026 Edition

It has been a crazy six weeks with sickness in our home. We have had some high alert days, which always reminds me how fragile the balance of my life truly is, and how easy it is for me to slip out of my calm, confident trust that everything is going to be okay into a shaky panic everything is at stake. After a season like this, I am always so grateful for the little rhythms of ordinary life. One rhythm I always come back to is naming the things I love. At any point, I could make an equally long list of things I hate, things that aren't working, questions without answers, etc. But naming the things that I currently love about my life draws me gently back into the wonder and beauty of it. So, here is my list. When People Feed My Family:(((Randy jokes that this is my love language.))) While we had children who were sick, many kind friends brought us meals. My sister had me send a list and brought us groceries. Another sister sent me a text that said, 'What do you want for lunch today?' A friend stopped by on several occasions with meals that she knew my family would love. While I was home with sick babies and the older kids were playing music at Rosie's concert, a friend anonymously paid for my family's dinnerandhad food sent home to all of us who couldn't go. I guess it is because I spend so much of my time thinking about food, buying the food, putting the food away, making the food, cleaning up the food for this big family—meals that miraculously appear without my help make even a sick day feel like a holiday. Sleeping Through the Night:In the midst of these intense weeks, graciously the baby has begun to sleep through the night. It isn't every night, but it is enough that I am remembering what real rest feels like. Surely I will never again take sleeping for hours at a time, undisturbed, in any position I want, for granted. Azul:I have tried to make a goal to say yes when my son who loves board games asks me to play with him. I know that at some point, he will not be around as much, or he will be preoccupied with other interests. This is the simplest way I know to show him that I love him, and I like him. And it's fun for me, too. We have been loving Azul. It is a great game for all ages (even my 5 year old can play it simply). It's beautiful, intuitive, and a game I can play no matter how tired my brain is at the end of the day. My New Journaling Class:A couple of friends and I have teamed up to start teaching some local homeschool classes for middle and high schoolers. I am teaching a creative journaling class and loving it. In preparation, I have been thinking about journaling as a radically human act. A book written in your own hand, for your own pleasure and purposes, for your own eyes to see. To be kept or destroyed on your own premeditated desires or on a quick whim. A journal is made by you, for you, and as long as you are moving your pen across the page, you are doing it right, as only you can do it. Hooray for being human, and for quiet practices that connect us to our humanity. Hints of Fall:I am typing this in my front yard in the shade of a redbud. Whisper of a breeze. Mottled light. Birdsong. Gold in the trees. The Taste of Figs:I had my first on Sunday.Flash back to this post I wrote last year. Sense and Sensibility:I love the way Jane Austen gives the language to describe traits that are present in myself and in those that I love. Her insight into and articulation of human nature is matchless. A delightful read. Wendell Berry:This beloved author, poet, novelist, essayist, thinker passed away last week. I have been rereading some of his poetry and putting some of his unknown books on hold at the library. He is the author ofthis poemandthis oneandthis one. I was first encouraged to read his work by, and am immensely grateful to her for the introduction. She is currently publishing a lovely 10-part read aloud of some of his works on her page. I will leave you with a quote fromHannah Coulter,one of my top favorite books of all time. You think you will never forget any of this, you will remember it always just the way it was. But you can't remember it the way it was. To know it, you have to be living in the presence of it right as it is happening. It can only return by surprise… And so you have a life that you are living only now, now and now, gone before you can speak of it, and you must be thankful for living day by day, moment by moment, in this presence. But you have a life too that you remember. It stays with you. You have lived a life in the breath and pulse and living light of the present, and your memories of it, remember now, are of a different life in a different world and time. When you remember the past, you are not remembering it as it was. You are remembering it as it is. It is a vision or a dream, present with you in the present, alive with you in the only time you are alive. -fromHannah Coulterby Wendell Berry Sending love, and the hopes that you will find peace in the moments that are passing and a connection to your own beautiful, sacred everyday life today. Mackenzie Subscribe now From the Family: Thanks so much to everyone who listened to our son Remy's album, just released a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't heard it yet, you can listen wherever you stream music, includingApple Music,Youtube Music, andSpotify.Here is a link to my favorite (I think???) song on the album. To those of you who contributed to a recording laptop for Remy, thank you!We are currently in the process of putting together a recording space in the attic closet of our home and are looking to buy a new laptop set up specifically for recording. If you would like to help us meet our goal, you can make a donation via Venmo @MackenzieChester, marked with the word 'Remy'. Thank you so much for your support. Also, my daughterjust put this sweet love song on youtube last week. It is beautiful! Subscribe to her substack andyoutube channelif you love her music and want to stay connected. I leave you with her voice today. Unbroken silence too loud to hearThat doesn't waver that doesn't ring in my earsI don't mind the quiet cause lately I've foundI like to be with you in a silence this loud Sincerest thanks to all who support me and the creative work of my family through paid subscriptions here on Substack and onPatreon. It means more than you will ever know.