“Does that hurt?” the nurse asked as she checked the incisions on my stomach.

“No, I don’t feel anything,” I replied.

I didn’t feel immediate pain in the days following my emergency appendectomy, but I did feel an odd sense of stillness. I realized that I was incredibly present. And sadly, I couldn’t recall the last time I felt completely aware of each pain or pulse of my body, processing each thought in my mind, and free from the compulsion to scroll through my phone. As much as I want to live “present” – it doesn’t come easily.

Why does it often take something like sickness or upside down plans to still us – to cause us to live as our Creator intended: present?

I see the tired, frazzled faces each month at our millennial gatherings. I receive the hurried “I’m running late” text messages before I meet a woman for coffee. I sit amongst half-engaged minds jotting to-do lists on the service bulletin during Sunday morning worship.

We live in the swirl of a hurried, overworked culture. How do we, as women who desire to live as Jesusintended, re-learn to be present?

What would this look like for your life? To engage in the tasks of the current hour, to take in the smells of the food you’re about to eat, to fully listen to someone without thinking of the next thing to say?

I want to be a good steward of the time God has given to me, and I can’t do that without being present. With the help of our God, I’m committed to re-learning how to be present. Will you join me?

Re-learning to Be Present
Rachel Lohman

August 5, 2016 [printfriendly]