Being Present

Every morning, my 3-year-old asks if we can go on a “lizard hunt” before school. She loves all things lizards and critters. Most mornings, I’m rushing to get ready. Trying to pack lunches, get myself and kids dressed, breakfast on the table, etc. But she is so cute when she asks with so much hope that I usually give in to a quick trip around the block to search for lizards and caterpillars. On particularly busy mornings, I find myself battling my brain to enjoy the walk around the block instead of thinking about how I still have to find water cups and pack those before we can leave…and where is my sweater? Did I leave it at work or is it in my closet somewhere? And shoot, I forgot to pack snacks for myself! And before I know it, we’ve made it back home and I don’t even know if my 3-year-old spotted a lizard or not and now I’m yelling at said 3-year-old to hurry up because we have to leave in 2 minutes and I still have 800 things to do! What a way to start the day!

Well, yesterday morning, I was determined to do things differently. Sure enough, my cute little kiddo asked to go on a lizard hunt and I was ready! I had everything packed ahead of time so I had little to nothing to freak out about on our walk. Out the door we went and we found so many critters. She actually had a worm attached to her pants and when we both noticed him, we laughed together. She pulled the worm off and we spent a solid 2 minutes watching as the worm wiggled away back towards the dirt. She smiled so big and said, “Mama! She is SO cute!” I disagreed completely but couldn’t help but notice the complete joy in my little girl's face as she said that. All of the sudden, I felt joy too. We got back home, both of us feeling light and joyful and left for work/school with smiles on our faces unlike the previous day when we left stressed and agitated.

There’s something so peaceful about being present in the moment with the people we love. And while life is often overwhelming and busy and hard, maybe we should fight for creating those peaceful moments with our family and friends. I know for me, it changes the whole tone of my day. When I’m able to “just be” instead of stressing, worrying and trying to control, I feel so much lighter.

In Matthew 6:34, God tells us to live for today and not worry about tomorrow! I love the way the message breaks this verse down. It says, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal.”