These are words my dad once said to me and I’ve never forgotten them.
Wherever you are, be all there.
He explained, “When you’re with someone, stay focused on them and try not to think of someone or something else.”
It made perfect sense to me and I’ve shared this saying with friends and family over the years. Sometimes they understand what it means, and sometimes I can tell immediately by the look on their face, they don’t quite get it.
So when I was reading a book by Ann VosKamp, one of my favorite authors, there it was, right there on pg. 69 of her book, A Thousand Gifts. “Yes! “She gets it!” I said out loud.
In the Present
It was written in the chapter, A Sanctuary of Time:
“This. Is this eucharisteo(thanksgiving)the way to that elusive fullest life, the one that lives in the moment? What my sister urges when I get angsty and knotted about tomorrow, when I sorrow for what is gone, her words always tugging me to stay right here- “Wherever you are, be all there.”
Her thought continued,
and this is where God is. In the present I AM- His very name. Wow, have you ever thought of that? In every moment, the Great I Am is present. He is Emmanuel, God with us. In every moment of every day, He fills each moment. Some are hard and knock the breath right out of us. Some are filled with regret of decisions poorly made, but dear one…if we stop and press in to these moments…these moments when our thoughts run away with us, we too can see that God is present in it.
Be All There
But isn’t it hard to slow down and be still enough to “be all there?” Like myself, my daughter Alyssa is pretty sure she has ADD. The other day she described her frustration, “it’s like my mind never shuts off!” Can you relate? I sure can! And we try so hard to stay focused…here in the moment. Now, what was I talking about? Oh yeah😂… I read on, so intrigued by what else Ann would say:
The clock ticks slow. I hear it for what it is: good and holy. Time, what God first deemed holy above all else(Genesis 2:3). Thank God for time, and very God enters that time, presence hallowing it. True, this, full attention slows time and I live the full of the moment, right to our outer edges. But there’s more. I awake to I AM here. When I’m present, I meet I AM, the very presence of a present God. In His embrace, time loses all sense of speed and stress and space and stands so still and holy.
And isn’t this so true! God wants us to have thankful hearts and be present in the moment because He is in the moment and we see Him there.
Speaking of moments… it’s mid July and we may sense those sweet summer days are fleeting. Those joyful, relaxed moments with our family…our kids. As we share an ice cream cone or a vacation day filled with splashes from the waves rolling in. Those moments… lighter than air… with no school backpacks filled with homework to be tackled.
Wherever you are, be all there.
Friend, enjoy the rest of those lazy, summer days…every single moment. And if you are “That Mom” who has just a little time to read, check out the book I featured above. It’s so thought provoking and attitude changing!
Blessings to each of you,
Crystal
P.S. As I glanced over pg. 69 again, I realized that Ann VosKamp referenced who originally penned this favorite quote of mine, and I am not surprised that it was the husband of my hero of the faith, missionary, Elisabeth Elliot.
“Jim practiced what he preached when he wrote in his diary: 'Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.”― Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor
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