Live Undistracted, Heart Led, and Hands Free....Every Day

olt_bookcover_sm
Start reading now

ABOUT THE BOOK

Rachel Macy Stafford, known as the Hands Free Mama, equips readers to breathe life into what really matters: the ordinary moments in our routine lives and the people in them.

Stafford’s inspiring words fill this beautiful book of short pieces constructed around the seasons of life. This flexible, non-dated, moment-to-moment resource of encouragement can be picked up whenever you need to find meaning in the meaningless…when your soul is weary…when your heart is heavy…when your connections are weak. Only Love Today’s life-giving words remind you of the tools you already possess and the insights you already have to guide you back to what matters most. Regardless of what you’re experiencing or what season you’re in, you’ll find wisdom and encouragement to move each day in a positive direction.

  • Only Love Today—is clarity when you’re conflicted.
  • Only Love Today—is unity when you’re divided.
  • Only Love Today—is faith when you’re uncertain.
  • Only Love Today—is a reset button directing you back to what matters most.

With Only Love Today, you’ll feel more aligned with your heart so love can fuel you forward.

Pre-Order Now

Free Bonus Materials

When you pre-order a copy of Only Love Today by March 7th you'll also receive the following:

OLT_coloring

OLT Coloring Pages

4 Only Love Today coloring pages to download to your computer, print out and color.

OLT_printables

OLT Printables

4 Only Love Today reminders to breathe posters to download to your computer, print out and post.

lock_screen

OLT Phone Lock Screen

A digital lock screen to download to your phone and use as a wallpaper.

OLT_bookmarks

OLT Bookmarks

4 Only Love Today seasonal bookmarks to download to your computer, print out and use

See Details Below

BOOK TRAILER

amazon
barnesandnoble
christianbook

ORDER ONLY LOVE TODAY BEFORE MARCH 7, 2017

When you order Only Love Today before March 7, 2017, you'll receive

  • 4 Only Love Today Coloring Pages
  • 4 Reminders to Breathe Downloadable Prints
  • An Only Love Today Lock Screen for your phone
  • 4 Only Love Today seasonal bookmarks

First, go to the retailer of your choice and order Only Love Today. Then simply email a copy of your receipt to [email protected]. Once we receive your email, we’ll email you back a link to your bonus materials!

olt_lp_aboutRachel Macy Stafford

Rachel Macy Stafford is the New York Times bestselling author of Hands Free Mama and Hands Free Life. Rachel is a certified special education teacher who provides readers with practical and motivating methods to let go of worldly distractions so they can live authentic and fulfilling lives. Since starting the blog Hands Free Mama in 2010, Rachel’s work has been featured in USA Today, TIME.com, MSN.com, FoxNews.com, Reader’s Digest, and she has appeared on CNN, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and Global News. Rachel loves being outdoors, baking, volunteering with homeless cats, and visiting nursing home residents. She lives in the South with her husband and two daughters who inspire her daily.

Join the Movement

Share your Only Love Today moments on social with #onlylovetoday.

olt7
olt5
olt4
olt2
olt1
lot6

Media

For press inquiries regarding Only Love Today, please contact Jessica at [email protected].

Download Press Kit

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Print

HFM on Facebook

The Hands Free Revolution

HFM on Pinterest

HFM on Instagram

During the holiday season, it helps to remember:
grief wears disguises …
fear talks in unbecoming ways …
anxiety gets controlling …
depression can look like fatigue …
hopelessness withdraws…
and when we see these things,
it is not a time to lecture, turn away,
or retaliate —
but a call to love.

My hand in yours,
Rachel 

📘poem from my 4th book LIVE LOVE NOW: Relieve the Pressure & Find Real  Connection with Our Kids
December can stir up pressure we were never meant December can stir up pressure we were never meant to carry alone.

If you’re feeling stretched thin or expecting too much of yourself, these permission slips are for you.

May they help you lower the bar, 
soften your pace, and protect the peace you’ve worked so hard to claim.

If one slide speaks to you, save it, send it to a friend, or say it to yourself.

Rest is not a reward —
it is a remembering: 
you are worthy, too.🩵

Only Love Today. 

My hand in yours, 
Rachel
December 2010 found me overwhelmed, exhausted, and December 2010 found me overwhelmed, exhausted, and running on empty. One tiny moment — my child’s burst of joy — brought me back to myself.

It reminded me of this truth: You are allowed to receive love, joy, and rest — not just give it.

If holiday stress, anxiety, or emotional fatigue has you pushing toward the finish line, please remember:

this is your life.

Your story is still unfolding, still capable of softness, still open to joy.

I wrote a new essay in Rachel’s Treehouse on how to feel heard and bring self-compassion into December. Click the link in stories or comment RECEIVE if you’d like to read it. 

My hand in yours, 
Rachel 

As always, please leave a heart if you are here. It helps to know we are not alone this December. 

#onlovetoday
During a very difficult season, I invited everyone During a very difficult season, I invited everyone at our Thanksgiving table to share one thing they were grateful for. I remember holding my breath while trusting that whatever emerged—messy, honest, tender, real—was worthy of being heard.

That moment taught me something I now know for sure:

When we make room for grief, we make room for our humanity… and for the humanity of those we love.

That’s where healing begins.

If you’d like to read more, I wrote about this more deeply in my latest Treehouse essay. Link in stories or comment SPACE, and I’ll send it to you.

My hand in yours,
Rachel 

🩵 Please know how grateful I am for everyone in this community. Thank you for letting me know how my words have felt like support to you this year. It means more than I can say.
Let this be your reminder: You don’t have to dis Let this be your reminder:
You don’t have to disappear to keep the peace.

You don’t have to abandon yourself to belong.

You don’t have to hold the whole room to be worthy of love.

Only Love Today means turning some of that love inward —
toward the parts of you that fall back into old patterns during the holidays, the parts that brace, perform, shrink, or overgive.

This reminder is for anyone learning to stay true to themselves while still loving the people around them.

Only love today… 
and in the week ahead.

My hand in yours, 
Rachel
Let no one tell you your efforts don’t matter.

Because they are wrong.

To ease pain is everything.

And if you touch even one life through your actions, one is enough.

I say this as someone who learned a lot
when I finally stopped trying to convince people who were never meant to understand.

The quiet inner nudges,
the ones with no words,
only truth—
that’s what needed my trust,
not the naysayers.

Go where your heart indicates your presence is needed.
Trust what you feel, even if you can’t explain it yet.

My hand in yours,
Rachel
I thought it was a reflection in the glass. 

 I thought it was a reflection in the glass. 

Surely, it couldn’t be a tiny rainbow. The sky was nothing but clear blue and sunshine.
 
So, I got out of my car to investigate. 
Sure enough, it really was a rainbow wedge just waiting to be spotted.
 
I felt this surprising sense of relief that I’d witnessed it.

I know… that probably sounds strange.

@dermotkennedy has this line in his song “Lost.” He sings, 
 
“My sense of wonder is just a little tired.”

That’s how I’ve been feeling this fall – 
like my wonder has grown weary.
 
I love that the very next line in the song is this:
 
“But if only you could see yourself in my eyes, 
you’d see you shine, 
you shine.”
 
I saw Dermot perform this song a cappella a month ago. I stood on the floor of a packed venue with tears sliding down my cheeks. Every single person in the room knew the lyrics. For 3 minutes and 45 seconds, there was no “othering” – just us. All of us, together.
 
I wanted to write about that moment, but it felt too small in the grand scheme of things.

Then yesterday, after posting here for the first time in a while, a friend reached out. 

She trusted me with something really tough she’s going through.
 
And I was so grateful she told me 
because if she could see herself in my eyes, 
she’d see she shines, 
she shines. 
 
And I told her so.
 
A few hours later, I saw that tiny rainbow in that clear blue sky, 
and my childlike wonder, the one that had gone dormant, was revived.
 
I heard myself say, wow.

And suddenly, in the grand scheme of things, 
it didn’t feel insignificant at all,
like maybe this pocket-sized rainbow was something 
my friend needed,
we all needed, 
in this tender season of weary wonder.

Let’s keep looking. 

Let’s keep sharing. 

The smallest things hold us together.

My hand in yours,
Rachel 

🌈 What tiny marvels have you witnessed lately? In my Treehouse, I call these stories hope scrolls - as opposed to doom scroll - and they really can lift the human spirit.
“I saw my openness, my trust, my over-kindness n “I saw my openness, my trust, my over-kindness not as gullible or naïve, but as a soft strength worth safeguarding.”

A reader pulled that line from my recent newsletter and said, “This one really got me.”

When I thanked her, she replied,
“I’ve been discussing your essay with my husband all morning. Really timely for me in my healing journey.”

Her words reminded me how many of us move through the world with soft hearts we’ve been taught to doubt, toughen up, or hide.

If that’s you, I want you to know you’re not alone.

On a recent flight, I encountered an elderly gentleman who became a mirror — showing me that my softness was never the mistake. I had simply misunderstood it.

It brings me peace to share the moment that helped me reclaim openness, trust, and kindness as a soft strength worth protecting, especially in a world aching for human connection.

Climb my Treehouse ladder and read the full story.

Comment SOFTHEART & I’ll send you the link directly or click the link in bio or stories.

My hand in yours,
Rachel

🧡 If you’re here, would you leave a heart, so I know? It’s been a while since I posted here. Your presence means more than you’ll ever know.
This poem from my book Soul Shift is personal. I This poem from my book Soul Shift is personal.

I wrote it for my students who were shunned.
For women who came to my workshops and said, “This is the first time I haven’t felt invisible.”
And, of course, for little Rachel—
the girl who often wondered if something was wrong with her.

There wasn’t. 
She was just planted in the wrong place.

I’ll never forget the first time I uprooted…
and found HOME among strangers who felt like family.
That moment changed me—
and it’s why I continue to leave my comfort zone to create circles of connection and belonging.

May you never confuse rejection with unworthiness.
May you keep seeking the conditions where you can thrive.

🌱You are worthy of good soil.

My hand in yours,
Rachel

🍂My final in-person gathering of 2025 is six weeks away… 
This one’s for the givers. 
The ones who make it look easy—until they break down. 
For those who’ve forgotten they are a worthy recipient of their own caregiving. 
I’d love for you to be part of this circle.
✨ Only Love Today: A Restorative Retreat for Givers 
🗓 November 7–9 @artoflivingboone in the Blue Ridge Mountains ⛰️
Comment BELONG if you’d like more details.

Rachel’s Treehouse on Substack

Rachel's Treehouse Cover

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Substack
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2026 · Hands Free Mama by Blogger Boutique · Header photos by Amy Paulson