Sundays—Speaking completely separate of the day known to many as church day, The Lord’s Day, the day of rest, etc. In the most basic sense, it is a day wedged between Saturday and Monday. It is the day between most people’s favorite day of the week and their least favorite. So Sundays are a mixed emotion day, a day that seems to be half enjoyed because at some point, the day is going to end, the weekend trip is going to have a “goodbye,” and the work week is bound to begin, but then, couldn’t every day be looked at like that? Each day has a beginning and an end. My life has a beginning and an end, but if you live in the mindset of WHAT’S NEXT or HOW DOES THIS PLAY OUT then do you ever really experience NOW…
I will admit that I am the worst at not living in the NOW as much as I try, and I think this past Sunday was the first time it really hit me, enough to make me sit down and truly think about it. My mind is running through everything from what tomorrow holds to what the next 3.5 months hold to what my life will look like a year from now. But why? Will me worrying and analyzing the future at this exact moment effect what is going to happen 111 days from now or 322 days from that? Uh, No. All it is going to do is let these RIGHT NOW moments fall into my past, and what a waste is that?
My favorite mindset to be in is probably my favorite only because I rarely ever achieve it.
to just BE.
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BE PRESENT— Be present in the moment you are in right now. I mean right this second, is a moment I will never, for the rest of my life, get back. Think about that. And whether it seems spectacular or just average, it still is a moment added to what seems like an infinite string of moments making up every piece of who I am.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, MSG After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live.
BE GRATEFUL— Be grateful that you got to experience every moment you have up to this point, because you are the only person on earth who can say that…. WHAT. If I thought that way even 50% of the time, I think my future moments would be spent a lot more meaningfully. My strand of hundreds of thousands of moments that make up me happened at the exact time, in the exact order, and the exact way they were always meant to be.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NIV Paul says, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
BE YOURSELF— Be yourself because everyone else is taken, cliche right? Well, even if it is, it could not be a more true statement. In the ways of this world we are taught to conform. Uhhh how boring is that? I think at the core of it all is the human need of acceptance. The need to know you are wanted and loved and if you see others who have it you want to fit in right alongside of them, but you know what? YOU ARE ALREADY LOVED more than you can comprehend by a God who has overcome the ways of this world.
John 16:33, NIV “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
And I think community plays a large factor in this one, guys. Surround yourself with people who allow you to be flawed, be passionate, be unbelievably irrational sometimes, be honest, be a little bit crazy, be heartbreakingly raw, and ultimately exactly who you were made to be. And when you find those incredible humans, don’t let them go, and let them feel as valued as they make you feel because they are blessings of so much worth.
Micah 6:8, MSG But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don’t take yourself too seriously – take God seriously
BE BRAVE— Be brave in what you do, in what you believe, and in what is unknowingly to come. I’ve thought a lot about bravery in the past few months. On my college graduation cap I painted the saying “Be Strong and Courageous” on it because I think being brave may be the most incredible characteristics anyone can possess, and at that time, I didn’t even realize how significant this phrase would become.
Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
For the first time in my life, I am at my biggest crossroads. I have amazingly rare, maybe once in a lifetime, things happening in my NOW and equally amazing things happening in my FUTURE 3.5 months from now. I’ve worried and struggled and crumbled at times about what is to come, but why? God’s got this. I am to “Be Strong and Courageous” and at the end of the day, Brave. Life will play out exactly how it is supposed to. So, I am choosing to be brave in God’s promises and live in my NOW and not in my tomorrows.
Matthew 6:34, NIV Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
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Because at the end of the day my string of moments, makes me, me.
So why not just live fully in them and just BE.
BE, in all of my Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and yes… SUNDAYS.
Be fully in a moment.
Embrace all of it.
I mean every bit of it,
Because that’s the only time it’ll be exactly like it is ever again.
MUCH LOVE <3
hayley
