Relax, and Live in the Moment

"Singing, Oh Lord, Keep me in the moment.
Help me live with my eyes wide open
cause I don't wanna' miss what you have for me." 

- lyrics from Jeremy Camp's song "Keep Me in the Moment."

On a recent trip to the grocery store, I glanced down the paper towels' aisle to see if even one roll occupied the shelves.  As if my presence in front of an empty shelf would cause something magical to happen, I walked down that aisle and just stood there.  In that moment, I took matters into my own hands and placed an Amazon order through my phone app.  Unfortunately, I didn't review my order completely before I clicked, "Buy now."  However, paper towels for public restroom dispensers work just fine in my kitchen.  I found a cute box to hold them.  5 of those sheets equals 1 Bounty paper towel!

One recent night while brushing my teeth, (I had to move my cleaning further out by the way!), I  looked in the mirror and saw more grey.  In that moment, I decided to consult Amazon...again.  I reviewed so many color options that my head hurt.  A hurting head probably stimulates gray hair growth.  Thank you, Jesus that I refrained from clicking "Buy Now" in that moment.  I woke up the next morning and realized my foggy brain had almost settled on a shade not even close to my current one!

I don't know about you but right now I find myself racing from one moment to the next and not always making the best decisions along the way.  So it was on March 31st that my sweet boy turned 16.  I knew the moments that couldn't take place.  He couldn't take his driving test nor visit the Department of Public Safety.  However, when he looked back over this day, I wanted him to remember unique moments that defined our love and the love others had for him during this unexpected season.  Behind the scenes, I organized a "birthday route."  We visited 10 houses.  As our birthday bus pulled up, families sang, cheered and danced from 6 feet away.  Afterwards, I organized a "social distancing dinner" in our backyard that followed all CDC guidelines...I even had it approved by my doctor!

It is the unexpected, unplanned moments I don't want to forget...Laughing as Landon's sweet great aunt spoke of maybe starting a belly dancing class. watching a new puppy nibble on green grass, capturing the smile on my son's face as he waited patiently to see which house we might come to next and receiving hilarious gifts such as extra rolls of toilet paper and key chains with hand sanitizer attached.  I don't want him to forget the smiles on the faces of all the people we visited, the gifts of his favorite snacks and a pineapple plant.  Every day, he reflects over being the proud owner of a future pineapple.  Most importantly, I hope both of us will hold very close to our hearts, for a long time, the moment when tears rolled down his cheeks.  Those were tears of immense gratitude. In that moment, he saw the faces of family members in our backyard.  We didn't share a birthday cake.  We didn't share close space.  We shared in moments of great love...the immeasurable love of family.

As I write these words, I recognize the 4th week of social distancing is upon us.  These past 3 weeks have been overwhelming, peaceful, challenging and blissful all wrapped up in a really weird package.  I pray you and me will savor the time, in the weeks ahead of us, to relax and live in the moment.  Silence the worldly noise.  Wait patiently. Prepare our hearts for the unexpected moments when God gently reminds us of His goodness, His faithfulness and His love.  In those moments, God provides our souls with pockets of heavenly peace.  Those moments will sustain us in the days ahead.  Amen.