It is amazing what can happen in the span of three days! This weekend my husband and I celebrated our anniversary, took care of a work related chore, spent a few hours exploring a nearby town, enjoyed a great time of worship at church, spent some time with family members and even had a visit with some friends we have not seen in about 5 years. This morning, I was reflecting on the last few days, a message I heard Sunday morning as we got ready for church, and life in general. I did some quick calculations. More on that in a bit, but as I calculated, the memory of the message the t.v. pastor was giving came flooding back to mind. His topic was on the Power of Now, and was one I really needed to hear! In fact, I went online to listen again this morning. The main theme was enjoy now, don’t get bogged down in yesterday and the past and don’t spend all your time longing for tomorrow.

Ok, back to the calculations. I have been married for 64.6% of my life! Wow! That makes me sound old! Guess that’s what happens when you get married at 18. When most people our age have teenagers or college students, we have adult children and six beautiful grandchildren between the ages of new-born and almost seven! The point, time flies! Yes, I know! everyone says that especially to young parents starting out! They, like we did, will smile, nod and probably roll their eyes just a bit thinking we are young and have our whole life before us. We sure did! I smile thinking about that and the one or two that said all those years ago that “we were too young, it’s puppy love; they will never make it!” They underestimated our tenaciousness to keep our vows to each other and to God.

Tenaciousness, the gentler and more controlled side of stubbornness is a great quality when channelled properly and can be very beneficial to us as we endeavour to live ‘in the now’. Life happens fast! sometimes it comes at us like a freight train and if we let it, it can barrel over us and leave us flat on the ground! Two cars, both needing repairs in days of each other, having to rent a vehicle to get to work and back, sickness, busyness, and any number of other things vying for our money, our time, our attention. We may focus on why we didn’t prepare better, save more in the past….if we had been more thrifty, saved more for a rainy day; or we may focus on the what-if’s… What if insurance premiums double or triple, what if this sickness is really serious, what if it is something major wrong with the car?

If we are not careful, we can worry our entire life away by choosing to focus on the past or focusing of futures worries. Days or weeks can be lost in this type of thinking and that basically was the premise of the message. He quoted John 10:10, ” The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. (John 10:10 NET). This is one of my favourites, though I have never thought of it quite like he presented it. He presented it in reference to time. My summery, when we get all caught up in our circumstances whether it is not letting go of the past or whether it is worrying about the future, we loose! We miss out on the now, in our lives! Yes, we should be responsible and deal with our past properly and prepare responsibly for our future, however if we are not careful, we will be robbed of our today in the process. The problem with that is once today is gone, we can never get it back! What is more, we are not promised tomorrow. My goal; focus on the now! Whether I am dining with my friends who I have not seen in years; attending a seminar or conference; working; or chatting with friends or family, I want to be fully present and in the now. Anything less is cheating myself and cheating them of the fullness of today and the abundant life God meant for His children.

My prayer for both myself and all who may read this: Lord, may we learn to forgive  and let go of the past whether it is ourselves or others and may we trust you fully for our futures letting go of doubt, worry and unbelief and cling to faith and trust in You. Help us to fully engage in today, in our now because if we don’t we will miss it and possibly miss You in the process! Strengthen us with Your Word, I pray!

Hebrews11 Now, faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. 2 For by it the people of old received God’s commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible. 4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God. 6 Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.