Living Right Here, Right Now

So much so quick! 

As I've written a lot lately (since I've been here) questioning what I want, where I want to be, and all those moments of my life where everything is just "unsure", I find every waking day I am here is another day that its "okay". It’s where I'm to be. It’s a daily reminder of God saying, "Chill out, I got this, do you not trust me or what?" 

I forget all too often He's growing me to be something more, but that’s not an overnight feat. And that, my friends, is how I function best. It’s how I've always preferred to function. Start quick and finish quick. Easy peasy. But not here, nope, He's showing me daily how to slow down, and embrace every. single. day. For the most part, it's been rewarding! For the parts it hasn't been, well, those are the days I've found myself pouting more than I am praising. 

I want to share something a dear friend who is on the other side of the world recently wrote. This is where God is magnificent. No matter where we are or what we're doing, He gives us people. People who may have a different job function, but carry the exact same purpose. Those people we call brothers and sisters of Christ; and if you’re really lucky (blessed is a better term) you can call them friends, as well. 

Her blog post read Brennan Manning quote, “Being fully present in the now is perhaps the premier skill of the spiritual life.” This is a struggle for many. 
We are desiring creatures. From birth we've been raised and developed to work for and anticipate the next "thing" to take place in our life. First, we are born, then we learn to walk, then talk, then remember, read, write, make friends, play sports, graduate high school, choose a college, move away from home, graduate college, get a "real" job, get married, have kids, then watch children go through the exact same process, until you retire, then you move to Florida, golf everyday, and eventually die. Your life may not happen in that exact order, but isn't that essentially what we strive for? Maybe adding a few adventures and additional "to do's" in between those standard activities and you have lived a full and successful life. 

The problem is all those things don't happen back-to-back. And from birth to college, we are used to going, going, going, and then bam! The accomplishments you then work towards in your post college life take a little more time. Life isn't running at a million miles an hour anymore. I'm sure this period is termed many different things, but I like to call it the "quarter-life crisis". The time when you think something is wrong because life is moving, yet feels like a complete stand still. Some people love the break. On the other hand it drives me nuts. It’s so difficult for me to be totally here because I'm constantly thinking of the next thing to do or the next place to be. This is where Brennan's quote applies to me. I'm physically in Pennsylvania. My heart is scattered across the globe with the people I love. My mind is in every country I think of moving to next. And my relationship with God is basically when I find time to fit Him in or share my latest plans of what I want to happen next in my life.  Seem fair, right? Not so much. 

Jim Elliot stated, "Wherever you are, be all there." and ohh doozy am I not all here. If I could narrow my mind, heart, and desires down to only a handful of places I'd feel accomplished. But Proverbs 19:34 says, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."

So as I look back on all the time I am spending being somewhere else in my heart, I now see its been time wasted. If I had just chosen to be all here from the beginning, I can only imagine how much richer my existence here would be. Perhaps I wouldn't be feeling these "Quarter-Life Crisis" symptoms and be riding the thrill ride of life I'm so used to living.

You know, this isn't even what I wanted to write about tonight, but I guess God had other words He wanted my fingertips to produce. 

Praise Him!

.::A Far Off Britt::.