Living in the Moment

I woke around 0430 and could not fall back to save my life this morning. So, with Queenie (my cat) on my lap, curled up under a warm blanket I turned on my tv and watched a few episodes of NCIS that I had recorded on my dvr (wonderful invention!)

One of the things that I have been thinking about lately, what with my life situation (school, work, choir, friends/family/person trials, etc) right now, what is life about?

Oh, I know that we are created to bring glory to God. But just how do you do that? That was on my mind this morning. I know that we follow His rules-we love Him first and foremost (He did create us and then when we screwed up and sin entered the picture He made a way for us to still gain an eternity with Him--the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ).

I think another part of the picture, and it is something that I'm just now learning to do, is to live in the moment. The past shapes us, the future intrigues us, but the moments-they belong us, and it is our job to make the most of each moment.

It is by living in the moment that we can fully enjoy a beautiful summer sunrise, a breathtaking sunset, or a night spent under the stars. Each life is a collection of moments, why not make the most of them?

I'm a dreamer, a planner. I like to think about the future and what could happen. And in many ways it is important to be prepared, but by focusing on the future I miss the moments-the now. I think there will be beauty in learning to enjoy the ordinary, because what is ordinary when you take the time to see God in it? God is so far from ordinary that nothing He touches (and He touches everything) can be ordinary, really.

In some ways I'm good at the moments--I love to people watch and imagine what is going on- to create stories about the people I see. Yet, for all my people watching I'm not nearly as good at analyzing myself. I shy away, because I know what I will find- a flawed and sinful human, a woman that constantly lets the Lord down and screws up. But, it is necessary to examine ourselves, to be looking at those flaws, the sins and find ways to fix the flaws and not repeat the sins.

God doesn't expect me to be perfect, I'm incapable. So why do I expect it of myself? Why can't I just live in the moment and do my best? So, my goal for this Spring is to work on it. To get better at living in the moments. To seek forgiveness from the Lord when I screw up, because I will, and to try and forgive myself-to cut myself the same slack that I give others. I don't expect my friends to perfect, yet I have a high standard for myself, and high standards are great, but there also has to be mercy.

Christ tells us "love your neighbor as you love yourself." Which implies that we love ourselves. Something that can be hard to do, because we know who we are, we are intimately knowledgeable about us. But, if God sees us even better and He loves us, we should do likewise. Flaws happen, sin happens, we learn from it, try not to repeat it, and move on to the next moment.

Happy Saturday!

-JLK-