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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 with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
-Words of Jesus in Matthew 6:34 from The Message
If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves. Yesterday I was invited by our Johns Creek Presbyterian Preschool to give the blessing at their annual Mother's Day Luncheon for the preschool moms. Before introducing me and inviting me up, Pris Horne, our preschool director, shared the words at the beginning of this paragraph. She said she had found a book while cleaning up just a few moments before. When she opened the book's cover, these words about taking care of the moments were on the very first page.
When I heard Pris say these words, I thought about how much wisdom they contain - not only for parents of preschoolers, but for all of us. I am reminded of the A.A. motto of "one day at a time." A friend of mine who is a pastoral counselor advises that when we don't know what to do in the future, "just do the next right thing." I also thought about the words of Jesus printed above. I like the way it is translated from Eugene Peterson's The Message: "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now . . ."
Being present to our children, no matter what their age, is something we all struggle with. I know I constantly must fight my attention going to the next thing to do. When I am in that mindset, I often miss what is taking place right now. We can never really live our lives in the future or the past. We can only live in the present.
I want to invite you this day to think about being intentionally present in whatever you are "doing right now." And especially if you are having a face-to-face encounter with someone, try to listen and pay attention to that person. That gift of attention is one of the greatest gifts we can share with one another.
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