Daily Archives: January 31, 2011

Living Life, Fully In The Moment

Laughing girl

Image by doug88888 via Flickr

We all struggle in this life.

I, along with you, want to live life fully…but, I confess I don’t know how on most days. I am a failed perfectionist. I like my life to be ordered and understandable. How many opportunities have I missed because they didn’t fit in my schedule? I hadn’t penned them in my Daytimer? I was too busy to slow down, and with that I missed some of God‘s most extraordinary moments for me. Although my life here on earth will never be perfect, and even though I mess up on a daily basis, God remains gracious. He gives me more opportunities to slow down and communicate with Him. More than I deserve.

Sometimes the day to day living gets in my way. My eyes are too eagerly set on my plans for tomorrow, to stop and enjoy the exquisiteness of today. I often times forget that I am but a pilgrim on this journey. This place is not my home. I was created for something so much more. God knows this. He reminds me of it, if I will only take the time to stop and really see…… to see His moments.

As much as I enjoy the beauty of this world, I am aware that this world is just a shadow of what is to come. In my quieter times, this thought crosses my mind. My breath catches in my throat and my eyes tear up as I contemplate what that truly means.

How many of us dare to live fully? I’m not talking about risk taking, or defying rules. I’m talking about slowing down enough to savor the wonderful gifts that God chooses to give us. To fully appreciate the joy of each day, regardless of the weather, how much money is in the bank, or whether or not  everything is checked off on the to do list. When was it that we fell asleep at the wheel?

Do you understand that life is really not about those  lists of things? Do you really? If you are like me, you say you do, but so many times I know I don’t truly comprehend the depth of it. So many times I rush head long into the day, never looking back, and then before I know it, it is time to go to bed. Where was the enjoyment? The abundance? The moments?  Oh, they were there. I was just blind to them.

When I think about that….it makes me cry. How many years have I wasted in my rush to the finish line? How much of  what God  offers, have I chosen to ignore?

Ann Voskamp, author of ONE THOUSAND GIFTS: A DARE TO LIVE FULLY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE, says this:

Dare to Live Fully

Open your eyes to ordinary amazing grace. Life is sometimes dark, gritty, and tough, so how in the world do you find joy? How do you live really, fully alive? How do you see what God is providing right here? How do you find God?

 

The In Courage group is starting a book club. I think I’m going to join because I need the challenge. The dare. To live a full life. Will you join me?

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Help! I’m Stuck In Frozen Foods

A young girl and her mother shop for chicken e...

Image via Wikipedia

So, as I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post…I got up early and went to the grocery store(s). WalMart at 8:15 in the morning usually is not so busy. Today it WAS! Every body and their brother was schlepping up and down the aisles picking out “stuck in a snowstorm” food. It also did not help my plight any that whoever wasn’t shopping for snow food was shopping for Super Bowl food. Get out of my way Super Bowl people!  Put down those chips and cheese dip. I’m on a mission.

I wrestled somebody’s grandma to the ground for the last bottle of salsa. Okay, so that is a lie. I didn’t really do that. I wouldn’t wrestle a grandma for salsa. Ice cream maybe, but not salsa. I have my priorities.

In all seriousness, there were a lot of senior individuals out and about today. I felt sorry for them. They probably believed their early morning shopping routine was being over taken by storm shoppers…and they would be right.

I moved on to the next store. I got there 15 min. after it opened. By the time I got ready to check out, the line was all the way back to the freezer aisle! For the love of Pete! Storm shoppers are a hardy bunch. We are not deterred by long lines! We settled in for the long haul. I was enjoying the sweet scene in front of me. A little boy (about 3 or 4 yrs. old) was shopping with his aunt. I know this because he called her aunt several times. (Call me super sleuth)  He was telling her various stories about  his parents. (one of them had to be this woman’s brother or sister) It was a lovely story about how the little boy’s mom liked Chinese food and the little boy liked Chinese (the jury is still out on whether Daddy liked it). He asked his aunt if she’d buy him Chinese? She said, “why don’t we let mommy and daddy buy that?”  He said okay. “Mommy gets Chinese a lot, because she can’t cook it.” I smiled. The little guy smiled back. He reminded me of my son when he was 4 years old. He liked to tell stories too. Not about Chinese food, but you get the gist.

The line went quickly. I smiled at the cashier gentleman. I told him that he was very quick with check out and I appreciated that he was smiling and in a good mood even though he was swamped. He laughed. He said, “I expected that we’d we busy, just not this early!”

I got everything stashed and packed in the mini van. I did not drop anything…no cans rolled under the van. Not that, that happens to me. Purely, hypothetical. On the way home I did hear a loud crash and looked to see that a sack of soups fell off the seat and rolled around on the floor near the van’s side door. I’m so lucky. Now when I open the van door, all the cans will roll out into the driveway. Sigh. I don’t get paid enough for this wife/mom gig. Just sayin’.

The weather people are calling for a monster storm. Snow. Sleet. Freezing Rain. High winds. Some states. even getting tornadoes. Just watch. All this shopping and standing in line and we, here in rural Ohio, probably will end up with an inch of snow. That would be my luck. Whatever. At least I have enough hot chocolate and chips to last the family and me until 2012.

Oh, and by the way, I also have sweet smelling candles to burn…just in case the electricity goes out. (due to ice) We might all be sitting in the dark but, at least it will smell good. Then again apple, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice scented candles might make us hungry. That’s where the excessive amounts of chips and salsa comes in. A mom always plans ahead.

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