I have thousands of pictures on my phone. Birthdays, vacations, first days of school, last days of school, sporting events, performances, homecomings, holidays, graduations, and the list goes on and on. Big moments and little ones, that I was desperate to capture, with the fear that I might forget!
Maybe it’s the season of life I’m in, but I find myself wanting to capture ALL OF IT now. It started earlier this year when we celebrated our oldest son graduating from college, and now we have a senior in high school; of course, there is so much more to celebrate and capture! This year already feels like one long series of “lasts.” The last first day of high school. The last homecoming. The last of this or that. And many more to come.
So yes, there is a lot to celebrate, and I am here for all of it. I love a reason to gather people I love, capture it in pictures, and make the moment feel special. But as I’ve thought about this month’s Good Word, CELEBRATE, I’ve found my thoughts steering away from the big moments we naturally celebrate, and more toward all the things that never make it into my camera roll. Perhaps because I am in a more sentimental season, these quieter yet meaningful moments start making their way to the forefront.
Moments like the random conversation in the kitchen when one of my kids says something that makes me realize how much they’ve grown. Or the moment I see someone choosing grace when it would have been easier not to. The friend who sends a thoughtful text right when I need it. The perseverance that doesn’t end with a win. The prayer that gets answered so gradually that I almost didn’t notice it happening.
No one takes a picture of those things. There’s no ceremony, trophy, or post. Sometimes no one else even knows they happened. And yet, I’m beginning to wonder if those might be some of the things most worth celebrating. I think in these moments, we are seeing glimpses of God’s character, and what God wants for our hearts.
What We Celebrate Matters
As a mom, I’ve spent a lot of years celebrating my kids. We’ve celebrated birthdays and good grades, victories and accomplishments, getting the part, making the team, getting accepted, and reaching a goal. And we should. Those things matter. Hard work matters. Milestones are gifts, and especially right now, I don’t want to rush past any of them.
But am I making as much of a celebration out of who my kids are becoming as I do what they are accomplishing? Because what we celebrate communicates what we value.
When I really stop to think about my own kids right now, some of the things I am most proud of aren’t necessarily the things we would normally throw a party for. I think about the way our bonus son (our international student) has handled a season-ending injury and the disappointment of having something he loves taken away before he was ready. I think about watching our oldest son step into his new job and seeing him not just succeed but really thrive in this new season of adulthood. And I think about our youngest son and the way we have watched him own his faith, boldly pray for other people, and share the Gospel in a way that challenges and inspires us. Those are the things I want to take notice of and celebrate, too. I mean, some of these are things I prayed for YEARS ago for each of them! Long after the seasons end, the grades are forgotten, the jobs change, and the milestones pass, who they are becoming matters so much more.
This really challenges me. Some of the things most worth celebrating require us to pay closer attention. If the loudest cheers in our home are always attached to achievement, what message does that send? I want our boys to know that we see the other things, too. The courage it takes to keep going when something doesn’t work out the way they hoped. The compassion and generosity they show others. The growth that happens through a hard season, even when the outcome isn’t the one any of us wanted.
What Does Jesus Teach Us to Celebrate?
Interestingly, Jesus speaks pretty directly to this idea of what we choose to celebrate. In Luke 10, the disciples return to Jesus excited about everything they had accomplished. They had experienced incredible success in His name, even telling Jesus that the demons submitted to them. But Jesus redirects their celebration: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). In other words, Jesus shifts their focus from what they had done to who they were and to whom they belonged.
In Luke 15, Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son, and when he returns home, the father doesn’t simply welcome him back; he celebrates by bringing out the best robe, putting a ring on his finger, and preparing a feast. But the older brother doesn’t celebrate. Instead, he begins keeping score. He reminds his father how many years he has served him and how faithfully he has obeyed, yet no celebration had been given for him. His focus is on the achievement and what he believes he has earned.
The father’s response gets right to the heart of it: “We had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:2). The celebration wasn’t about any accomplishment. It was about restoration, relationship, and a changed heart.
And that steers me to a very important question: How can I celebrate what Jesus celebrates?
Being Present Enough to Notice
I think the answer to that question above is quite simple. It’s being present enough to notice what Jesus might want us to notice.
I’m becoming increasingly aware of how quickly life moves. Young parents hear it all the time – “the days are long but the years are short.” Seasons of parenthood that felt endless when I was living them now feel impossibly short! Those years were fleeting! I know enough now to know how quickly the moments become memories that are now years behind us. And yet, I still find myself doing what I have always done. Thinking about the schedule, planning what’s next, making sure everyone has what they need, taking the picture on the way out the door…. And sometimes, in my effort to capture the moment, organize the moment, or get everyone to the next moment, I miss the one I’m standing in. I don’t want to reflect back on these days and realize I was too distracted to actually be present in the most important moments.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to stop celebrating the obvious things like birthdays, graduations, and accomplishments. But I do want to widen my lens. I want to take more notice of the things that wouldn’t make a camera roll, like a seemingly ordinary dinner around a table where everyone I love happens to be there at the same time. I want to notice the prayers God is answering along the way and the ways He is changing the people I love. I want to notice the ways He is changing me, too.
Psalm 118:24 says, “The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.” I’ve read this verse many, many times, and with this new perspective, I think part of rejoicing is recognizing meaningful things God is doing while He is doing it, right in the middle of an ordinary day.
Yes, in this season of so many celebrations, I’m still going to take a ridiculous amount of pictures. But I also want to remember to put the phone down every once (okay, more than once!) in a while, look around, and really be present. I want to be able to notice and tell the people I love when I see God at work in them. For our boys especially, I want to celebrate not only what they are accomplishing, but who they are becoming.
And I want to keep asking myself in this season and more seasons to come, Am I paying attention to, and celebrating, the things that matter most?
Please join me in this prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for the many reasons You give us to celebrate. Help us to slow down and notice the ways You are working in our lives and in the loved ones around us. Give us eyes to see and celebrate what You celebrate, and remind us to recognize Your goodness in the moments that matter most.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
