In the Margins

Motherhood is one giant game of multitasking where nobody wins, and everybody is crying. You know what I mean. You’re rocking a baby at midnight, humming a worship song in between desperate prayers for sleep, while simultaneously remembering that your teenager has their driving test tomorrow. Or you're making dinner with a toddler hanging off your leg and a preteen telling you every tiny detail of the drama that happened at school today. Somewhere in there, you wonder—where’s the time for God?

I get it. 

Everything in motherhood happens in the margins. Self-care? Squeezed in between naps and school pickups. Date night? Oh, you mean falling asleep next to your husband while watching a show you both gave up on 15 minutes ago? Prayer? If whispering “Jesus, help me” while breaking up sibling fights counts, then we’re all nailing it. *fist bump*

Lately I've been wondering---what if God is moving in those margins? What if the small, messy, unseen moments aren’t interruptions but invitations—holy, sacred spaces where He is quietly at work?

Maybe that's exactly where God meets us. In the margins of life, in every season (even in the chaos).  

What Are “The Margins” of Motherhood?

When I say “the margins,” I mean those tiny slivers of time between All. The. Things. It’s the moments we don’t schedule, the ones that happen when we’re in survival mode, running on coffee and dry shampoo fumes.

• Rocking a baby at 2 AM, whispering prayers because you're too tired to form complete sentences.

• Having a deep conversation with your teen while driving to Target or in circles around the Costco parking lot, because eye contact would make it weird.

• Reading a Bible verse on your phone between practice drop-offs, hoping it sticks in your brain for later.

Motherhood has a way of stripping away the idealistic version of faith—the long, peaceful devotional times and the deep, uninterrupted prayers—and replacing it with a raw, real, desperate faith that meets God in the in-between.

And here’s the thing: God isn’t only found in those perfect, quiet moments we long for. He meets us in the middle of the chaos too.

God Moves in the Small Moments

We tend to think that if something isn’t big and dramatic, it doesn’t matter. But God has a different way of working. Some of His greatest miracles happened in the quiet, unseen places.

1 Kings 19:11-12 – When Elijah was exhausted, afraid, and looking for God in the big, loud displays of power (wind, earthquake, fire), God showed up in a gentle whisper.

Zechariah 4:10 – “Do not despise these small beginnings…” Because small things in God’s hands become powerful things.

Matthew 14:13-21 – Jesus multiplied what seemed small and insignificant (five loaves and two fish) to do something incredible and miraculous.

Just because a moment feels small doesn’t mean it’s insignificant to God. Sometimes, the most ordinary moments—like holding a sleeping baby or comforting a stressed-out teen—are the most holy.

Noticing & Trusting God in the Margins

So if God is already present in the margins, how do we start seeing Him there? Here are three things I'm trying to do to see Him more:

1. Redefine What "Quiet Time" with God Looks Like

I've learned that if I wait for an hour of uninterrupted prayer time to connect with God…well, I'll be waiting until my kids are all grown and raising their own babies. Instead, I'm trying to live out my faith, including my quiet time with God, right in the middle of real life.

Pray while folding laundry. (Lord, bless these kids who use two bath towels per shower twice a day, every day.)
Listen to worship music or the Bible App audio in the car. (Because sometimes the drive home from school drop off is the only alone time you get in a day!)
Talk to God throughout the day. (It doesn’t have to be fancy. A simple “Jesus, help me” is a powerful prayer. It also just tends to come out 25 times each week at least. *shrug*)

God isn’t checking a prayer-time stopwatch to see if we’ve clocked in enough minutes. He just wants time with us.

2. Recognize That This Season is Holy

The season I'm in—whether it’s babies and bottles or teens and college applications (or both, what?!)—is a holy one. It might not feel holy when you’re cleaning up spilled applesauce for the third time, but God is present in it.

Instead of wishing for “more time” to connect with God, ask Him to reveal His presence in the moments you already have.

A newborn season might mean breath prayers and lullabies whispered in the dark.
A toddler season might mean praising God for extra patience (and coffee).
A teen season might mean seeing God in the deep, unexpected conversations you never planned.
A newborn, toddler, teen, and adult child season might mean...well, I'm still figuring that out exactly. I'll report back ;)

We don’t need to wait for a different season to grow spiritually. God is right here, right now, in this one.

3. Keep a “Margin Journal”

One of the best ways to see God moving in your life is to write down the small moments where He shows up. I've done this for years in different ways, first starting out as a gratitude journal. It's truly been one of the most impactful practices in my life. Some things I may jot down in my gratitude or Margin Journal are:

A kind word from a kiddo when I needed encouragement.
A prayer answered in an unexpected way.
A moment of unexpected peace in a crazy day.

When I notice and write down God’s faithfulness in the small moments, my faith grows—because I realize He’s been there all along.

It's Not Failing. God is Moving.

If you feel like you're just squeezing everything in anywhere you can, that everything is happening in the margins and you're failing on all accounts---I get it. I feel the same way and I have to remind myself it's not failing—this is right where God is moving.

Faith doesn’t have to look perfect to be real. Prayers don’t have to be long to be heard. Time with God doesn’t have to be uninterrupted to be powerful.

Instead of waiting for "more time," let’s embrace the moments we have—because God is already at work in them.

What’s one small way you’ve seen God in your margins this week? Drop a comment—I’d love to hear!