Hi everyone!
I'm back to blogging and apologize for the long drought!!
I am very excited for our upcoming gathering at the church on November 9th. I wanted to give you a quick preview of what the Lord has been doing in my life over the past couple of weeks. I'm back in school full time and transitioning from a wonderful summer break back into full time student/work mode.
I'm reading a book right now by John Ford, called The Attentive Life, which is my inspiration for my teaching coming up and have been inspired to pursue a way to be actively engaged with God throughout the day. The question that has pierced my heart is this one, how much of my time do I spend in the past or in the future which takes me out of the present? I am struck by this question because I find myself caught in both the future and past a majority of the time. I've learned to be strategic planner, and bless those around me by attempting to think ahead so that I can be best prepared for what God wants to do. This is wonderful, but also leads to being stuck in future thinking.
This is, unfortunately, balanced by a continual drawing towards the past because of the shame that I carry with me for past sin, and the patterns of organization that lead me a good amount of time to wondering if I've done everything I should have for that day or week. What a dilemma! (I hope you all can relate on some level).
So, what does it mean to be attentive to the Spirit throughout the day? What does it mean to be active in the present? How do we learn to be aware in the moment so that we don't miss out on what the Lord is doing? These questions I believe can lead to transformation not only through our engagement with those around us, but with our prayer life, our own personal peace, and with the Spirit of God. I invite you to join me on November 9th and continue the conversation!
Love you all!
Ben
I have been thinking about this same thing lately or at least similar... I am working on enjoying the process of my daily life instead of thinking about all the things that I need to get done. I feel like my eyes are opened, noticiing things I hadn't seen before. Like today, at the library, I noticed a lady with a Christmas sweater on already. It was fantastic!! It also might have been a gift to me b/c God knows how much I love those sweaters but if I had been focused on me, I wouldnt have seen it. I would have missed it. Maybe I was supposed to talk to her, who knows? Maybe next time, I will... HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN! looking forward to other people's posts. :)
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