This Present Moment

“Time is flying by!” “It’s already June?” “Where did the time go?” “I feel like the older I get the faster time goes.”

You’ve heard these phrases. You’ve probably even said some of them. I’ve said them! Recently!

This picture, up top, is the view from my front porch swing. I try to sit here first thing every single morning, and also at night as the sun sets. Yes, I’ve talked about it several times!

Have you ever heard that phrase, “Think about what you’re thinking about”? Well if not, now you have! I was doing this on my swing this past week— thinking about what I was thinking about— and I noticed something really interesting. It was like my thoughts were almost the things I was seeing.

OK that sounded strange… let me see if I can explain this better.

It’s like this:

It’s morning, I have a big glass of water in hand, I’m sitting on my swing and I’m thinking about all the things I need to do for the day. I see myself accomplishing all the chores, keeping up with my online work, and all the things Andrew and I are going to be doing for the day. Then my mind moves to that conversation I had with “Daisy” the other day. I imagine how it could’ve went differently. Which leads me to the meeting with “Fred” that have tomorrow and my brain spins with all the different ways—good and bad— that that could turn out. And from there, it moves to what’s for dinner, to probably something theological, to when am I gonna have time to workout today, to that random scene from that movie I watched last night, and then to yep, I’m still avoiding that pain in my heart, but I definitely don’t have time to deal with it right now. Until, finally I stop and realize I’m missing what is going on right in front of me. It’s like I don’t even see it.

No wonder time is flying by, it’s already June, and I don’t know what’s going on or how or when we got here. It’s like the “What-if” World, Never Never Land, Narnia, and maybe a little “Leave it to Beaver” created an alternate universe and planted it in my mind! And I’m living there. Can anyone out there testify, please?

Since I’ve realized this, I keep trying to stop it. But let me tell ya, it’s an all out war to keep your mind from wandering around. She’s a tricky one, my brain. Sneaky. Sometimes I’ve crossed over into “What-if Never Never Land Narnia with Beaver” before I’ve even gotten out of bed.

There’s this tree that sits right across from the end of my road. Not too long after I moved into my house, almost 5 1/2 years ago, I started to notice it. It sits in the most perfect spot… on top of a hill, in a pasture. It’s got the most grand view of both the sunset and sunrise. Don’t judge me, but sometimes I feel a little jealous of it and its view. I’ve watched it throughout the seasons, however, it’s weird, because I see it all the time but I’ve never stopped to just look at it. Yesterday, I was on a walk, and I was again fighting to quiet my mind and really pay attention to what I seeing. I looked at this tree and I remembered this story Pete Greig shared in “Dirty Glory” He said,

“God spoke to me about this one day, as I walked down a road near my house. It wasn’t an audible voice, but it was so unmistakably and unexpectedly Him that I stopped immediately, mid pace, right there in the crowded street. God said, “Look at that tree.“

I froze and stared at it with my heart racing. Something momentous was obviously about to happen. Perhaps this was to be my burning-bush moment? Or perhaps the tree was about to fall, and I was to heroically save someone? Or maybe the Lord was about to give me a powerful prophetic revelation or even an angelic visitation.

I stood there, transfixed, staring into the branches of a fairly average hawthorn (if my memory serves me correctly), hardly daring to breathe. And gradually…. absolutely nothing happened. I waited, undeterred, rooted to the spot, eyes aloft, muscles tensed, while fellow pedestrians gave me sideways glances, probably concerned that I’d lost my cat, or cricked my neck, or was having some kind of awkward “episode”.

”Ok, I’m looking at the tree,” I hissed eventually, just in case God hadn’t noticed or had got distracted with events in the Middle East. “What happens now?”

But God didn’t seem to be in any great hurry to reply. Eventually, a little reluctantly, He said, “ I just thought it was a pretty good tree, Pete,” before adding, “Why do you always have to get so intense about everything?”

I found myself muttering, “Nice tree, Lord. Good job on the tree.” Then I wandered off down the road, a little dejectedly, having experienced the most underwhelming epiphany of all time.

Your relationship with God is at its best when you talk to Him about trivia: Trees and trains and parking spaces. I’d hate it if my children only ever talk to me about Grave Matters of Serious Concerns. What’s more, if you only pray about big, important, weighty matters, you will only occasionally be grateful. But if you learn to pray about things like nice-looking trees or your daily bread when the supermarket is full of the stuff, then you will live in a state of continual gratitude for miracles so common that most people take them for granted.

I often wonder what Adam and Eve ever talk to God about when they walked with Him in the cool of the evening before there was any sin or sickness or suffering in the world, before there were any problems at all in the world, before there was any need for intercession or spiritual warfare. I presume that they merely said, “Thank You” and “Wow” a lot. Perhaps they pointed out things they had discovered in Eden that day and asked a lot of questions. Maybe they explained the weirder names they had chosen for the animals. They must surely have said a lot of things like “Nice tree, Lord.”

One day, we will be with the Lord forever. But what will we talk to Him about once there is no more sickness to be healed, sinners to be saved, churches to be planted, and injustices that need to be fought? Too often, we only pray about problems: conflict at work, friends who need healing, prodigals far from God. One day, when the Lord invites us to walk with Him in the cool of the evening, and there are no more problems we can possibly address in prayer, will we have learned to simply enjoy His presence, hallowing His Name without asking for anything in return?”

Yesterday, on my walk, thinking about this story, I allowed myself to finally stop and stare at this tree I’ve noticed for years, and I let myself be in awe of the Lord over it. Telling Him how nice of a tree it really was. I would have taken a picture had I had my phone with me. Although, I’m also glad I didn’t have it. Too often I feel like trying to take a picture to capture a moment, ruins the intimacy the Lord is trying to create in that moment. I oddly felt tears forming in my eyes as I was talking to Him about it. Immediately I felt His Presence with me, honestly, it felt as if He was beaming over the fact that I had stopped, noticed, and gave Him glory for it.

My sister taught me this practice and Andrew and I have been using it on our daily walks. You list 5 things you see, 4 things you hear, 3 things you can touch, 2 things you smell, and 1 thing you taste. Andrew loves it. I tried to change it up the other day and he said, “No, Nanny, I want to do the five senses one.” It helps us to be present, instead of focusing on the next thing that’s about to happen on our schedule. It opens our eyes to what is going on in front of us and even gets us laughing when we smell something stinky. The tasting one always is a little interesting as well. Andrew always chooses something that he could taste. Then he laughs when I describe the toothpaste I just used, the coffee I just drank, or the breakfast we just ate.

Last year, I participated in a 10 Day song writing challenge. One day, I asked my sister if she wanted to do one of the days with me. The day we chose to write together, the word given to us was glory and our verse was Romans 8:18

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

I believe you will hear this song one day, but for now, I’ll just share the lyrics of the chorus.

🎶 “In the rise and fall of breath, on the other side of death, here and now, though not yet seen, Your Glory is awakening me.”

I had this picture in my head when we were writing this. It was that His glory is waking us up. It’s this idea that the more we stop and see Him in things, the more we give Him glory for things, the more we praise and are grateful to Him, the more we slow down to see Him in the people around us, rather than the way they are irritating us in the moment, the more we wake up. We wake up into the realities of His Kingdom. We wake up into what He’s doing. With the invitation to participate with Him in it— the restoration and renewal of the world, while all the while living in His shalom— wholeness, flourishing, harmony and delight.

I think the reason it feels as though time is flying by is because I’m living my life in other realities. My attention and focus is on everything that isn’t anything in this actual moment. Ken Helser says, “You can find God in anything and miss Him in everything.” I think the truth is, one of the biggest reasons I have a hard time listening to the Holy Spirit’s leading is because He’s here in this moment and I’m living in that meeting with “Fred” that isn’t happening until tomorrow. I think I often miss the God moments to love on someone at the grocery store because I’m already living in the dinner party that I’m hosting on Friday night. Sometimes I think I overlook the miracle I prayed for, because I’m still living in the inconvenience of the suffering I had to endure before it came to pass.

Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with the what-if world if it’s looks like dreaming with God. There’s nothing wrong with Never Never Land, if my posture to be child-like is rooted in faith, wonder, and dependency on Him. There’s certainly nothing wrong with having adventures in Narnia as long as Aslan is still the King of it. (If you know, you know) And there’s nothing wrong if my life starts to resemble the mundane silliness of a “Leave it to Beaver” episode as long as I invite Him into all the details of it.

Your encouragement for the week:

Slow down and think about what you’re thinking about. You may have to fight to focus to see what’s in front of you. When you see it, don’t just look at it, talk to God about it. Pray out your “what-if” world thoughts. Posture your Never Never Land child-like heart in faith, wonder and walking in deeper dependency on Him. Say yes to the adventures in Narnia with Aslan as they come. And invite Him into all silly mundane “Leave it to Beaver” episodes of your life. But most importantly, Thank Him. Give Him praise for all of it. Allow His glory to wake you up! And by all means, live with Him, right here and now in This Present Moment.