In the Moment

I had a class this weekend and a friend graciously allowed me to stay with her and her husband. Her home is feet away from Lake Ontario and her backyard overlooks the lake. 

The weekend was a wonderful time of catching up with some dear friends who came to dinner on Friday night. I spent all day in class on Saturday. I headed back to my friend's on Saturday night and was so exhausted that I fell asleep at 9 p.m.

Normally, I would have headed back home right after the class on Saturday. I'm thankful I had made the decision to stay because there was a torrential downpour when I left to go back to her house.

My friend had a race to go to in the morning, her husband was meeting someone for breakfast and I sat in her backyard with my Bible and journal and had a talk with the Lord. It was rich and it was deep and it was needed. And it happened because I stayed in the moment. 

I had breakfast with my son who lives in the area and I'm thankful I did. We spent time chatting about different things going on in our life, laughing, and catching up. Normally, I'd start getting antsy because I want to rush back home and get on to the next "to-do" on my list. But I pushed those impatient feelings down and focused on the moment. 

I had made arrangements to meet my daughter and her boyfriend for a late lunch since I was driving right by the city she lives in. I was tired and I was tempted to cancel. But God keeps reminding me that relationships are more important that the "list" so I stopped. We had such a nice visit and I'm thankful I stayed in the moment.

When I don't stay in the moment I lose opportunities for connection with those I love. I lose opportunities to hear from God because I'm too busy to slow down. I lose opportunities to be blessed and to be a blessing to others because I'm rushing on to the next thing. 

When I never can "unplug" from social media, the phone, the computer, the television, my list or whatever other distraction there is, I miss out on much of life. 

I'm thankful for the many reminders coming my way to stay in the moment. Yes, I do need to get things done, but I also want to stay alert for the opportunity to engage with people. All those little moments add up to a rich life.