Be Present

I haven't posted on here in over two months, but honestly life has been so busy and I've been learning so much about myself, other people, and about all of the things college brings this past semester. Ever since I've been home from the busyness of college, I've been focusing on spending time with my family and friends and resting. (Rest is such an underrated gift from God. Take time to appreciate it. There may be a blog post coming about this soon.) However, one of the most important things I've been learning these past few months is the importance of being present. This is something our society has such a hard time with. We have so many distractions around us, whether that be our phones, our unstoppable thoughts of what we need to do later, people in need of our attention, or the demands of life in general, we are distracted beyond belief. About two months ago, I took a much needed social media break for just a few weeks and I quickly began to realize the amount of time I and so many others spend on social media and just on the petty things in life. Now, I'm not saying that social media isn't a great thing, because I think it can be a great thing. However during that time, I could see how much more productive I was, as well as how much more present I was. So often we can catch ourselves not knowing or remembering what our family said they were struggling with or what our friends were laughing about at lunch because we weren't practicing being present. Ever since that social media fast, I've found myself pursuing the act of being present. It has so many benefits, not just for us but also for the people we love. We can enjoy listening and actually understanding other people's perspectives, being better equipped to listen with the intent of understanding instead of listening just to respond, and being able to know how to better love and provide for those around us. Another aspect of my life that I've seen the benefit of being present, is in the Lord's presence. Being present and aware is so good and for our benefit when we are intentionally listening to what the Lord has to say to us. These past few months I have learned so much that I couldn't even begin to write about it in this post, however it's been really intriguing to go back over my journals and prayers these past few weeks as the year comes to an end and reflect on what the past year has brought and how God's hand has been on every single event. Through that I've learned how to actually be present in the Lord's presence and what it looks like to listen to Him too. So often we sit and tell the God all of our problems, but we don't listen for His answers. Exodus 14:14 says "The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still." Wowza, that hit me. If we are just still and waiting in His presence, He willing fights for us. I'm hopeful to see what 2018 brings and how I will be challenged to be still in the presence of the Lord and how He will move the mountains. I'm challenging you to practice being present and see how your life will be altered, too!