Don’t Miss Your “Now” Moments!

One of the truly great things that has always amazed me about my dad is his uncanny ability to live in the present and to really enjoy his “now”.

I’ve often wondered if it came from growing up on a farm.  His family farmed cotton and corn, had several milk cows, a couple of pigs, a few head of cattle, and a big garden.  In his world, you didn’t have time to regret what did or didn’t happen with the last crop and your tomorrow was up to God.  All he had was the plow in his hands, and the mule, and the untilled ground in front of him.

Sometimes, I’ve wondered if it was my grandmother (dad’s mom) who passed along the ability to live in the present to him.  I use to spend hours sitting alone with her at her kitchen table, just talking.  Her table was a place for plenty of good conversation, a place you could ask and learn about almost anything … and still grandma always knew more than she said.  I remember her commenting on her morning ritual, “I always put it in the Good Master’s hands, before I put my feet on the floor”.  It sort of shook me when she said it.  I’d never heard anyone own the title “Good Master” like that before (or since).  The ownership, familiarity and surrender all packed in the words “Good Master” made the rest of her sentence so powerful, and made me want to know God the way she knew Him!

Maybe that was it!   Dad has never put it just like grandma did, but he’s said it with his life in so many ways — and with a few simple phrases along the way.  Phrases like “you just gotta trust God, Anthony”, or “it’ll be alright”.  Come to think of it, he’s always had the same twinkle in his eye that grandma had when she’d say something and you knew she had a stretch of road behind her to back up.

My own ability to enjoy the present comes by the grace of God, the aforementioned DNA in my bones, and a real commitment to live in the “now”.  I have a lot of ways I like to say it, but today it’s “Don’t regret your past moments, or fear your future moments, so much so that you miss your present moments (your “now” moments)!”

God really is worth trusting!  Today is an opportunity to let go of the past, surrender your future and embrace life in your every “now” moment!