When I was younger, I walked in my sleep.
I outgrew my nighttime wanderings, but not before my four sisters collected a few stories, retold at family gatherings.
The most repeated one is about the night I ate half a chocolate cake.
The next morning, on the polished surface of our stainless steel countertop, sat the remaining evidence.
Someone had eaten chocolate layer cake with her hands.
I’m not sure what incriminated me. Maybe, the chocolate under my fingernails?
Whatever. I had eaten half a chocolate cake.
Over time, my family saw the humor in my sleepy stroll.
I never did.
I figured, since I had eaten half a chocolate cake, I should remember the pleasure of eating it!
Awake, O Sleeper
Recently, God reminded me of my nighttime chocolate cakewalk. He awakened me to his perspective.
He pointed out how often I rush from one event to the next, living a blur of moments.
It’s impossible to remember something we never fully experience.
I wondered what I had missed. And I realized…
I am still a sleepwalker.
I have a feeling I’m not alone. Life has a way of sweeping us into the forced march of the calendar, the warp-speed of doing more, experiencing less.
Hurry is a trap.
- Hurry numbs us to the awe of God.
- Hurry dulls our ears to God’s voice.
- Hurry robs us of thanksgiving.
- Hurry distracts us from remembering well.
Hurry is a thief.
Arise and Shine
Wherever you are, be fully there. ~Jim Elliot
Recently, I heard a wise man restate Elliot’s quote, voicing his personal resolve.
I am determined to be where I am.” ~Ronnie Floyd
Our lives are not a highlight reel of events, circled on calendars, checked off on the to-do list of the day.
Life involves a succession of ordinary moments, lived well, marked by mercies new every morning.
You must be fully aware to experience them, in order to remember them.
So I resolve to be fully present, even when I’m busy.
I am determined to be where I am.
I want to remember well.
- To respond to God’s present tense voice
- To recollect God’s grace in the ordinary
- To recount God’s faithfulness
- To recite in my heart every mercy moment
- To recapture a response of thanksgiving and worship
I don’t want to be a sleepwalker in life.
Perhaps you need to wake up, too.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
I’d love to hear from you. I value your comments.
Wow. Just wow..
I’m speechless. Thank you…this was very eye opening…wow.
I appreciate your taking time to comment. I’m glad this post helped you. You’ve encouraged me. Blessings!
Had not thought of schedules to do lists that way. How many blessings have missed by not taking time to really enjoy them before running of TO DO. Thank you for opening my eyes.
I’m working on being fully present. Not there yet but I want to be. Thank you for commenting, Caroline. Blessings!
Becky
This is brilliant! Well done! I had the chance last year to be reminded of a quote from Dallas Willard. When asked, ‘How do we keep from loosing ourselves when opportunity knocks?’ His answer, “Remove HURRY from your life”!
Blessings!
Thank you so much, Bishop Tony. I love Dallas Willard. I will remember this quote. A good reminder to myself. I appreciate that you took time to comment. Love and blessings to you and Kathy.
Love this! What a great reminder at the start of a crazy few months for us. Love you!
Thank you, Corrie. I’m looking forward to spending some part of those crazy months with you. Love you! Can’t wait to see all of you.
YES! You say so well the lessons God spoke into my heart a few years ago – which resulted in our blog tagline and my personal commitment to “live life fully present.” I find we have to guard against either living in the good old days or avoiding the hard of the present or I suppose the fear of the future. In any event – your words were sweet to read and brought encouragement, my friend. Love you.
When I feel discontented I can often look at the rush of my schedule to discover what’s wrong. I want to be active but also aware of precious manna in the moment. Love you, dear one. You are a blessing to me
Hi Becky!! Well written!!! Live the moment. Funny…as I read of your sleepwalking I thought of my daydreaming. Interesting correlation, I think. I’m pondering this. It’s possible to miss the moment, the now, by dreaming about tomorrow, the future, or what might lie on the other side of the fence even. However, I suppose creativity opportunities might be hampered if no one ever daydreamed but your point still holds true–don’t miss the opportunity of now! Enjoyed this bit of mental exercise. Blessings!
Thanks so much, Felicia. Daydreaming and sleepwalking definitely correlate. And I agree with the creativity part. We need to daydream, but it’s probably done in quietness, not the hurry, bustle that keeps our minds from being in the moment. I don’t know if you’ve read C.S Lewis’s Screwtape Letters. The enemy tells his protege to keep the humans occupied with the future or the past. If he allows them to be in the present, they will begin to see God’s work and blessings, and that wouldn’t be good. I’ve greatly paraphrased Lewis, but that’s the general idea. Love to you!
Yes! Thank you for the reminder…the permission to take it in; to walk free from my self imposed responsibility to perform. The lie that we have to move quickly and fill our calendar to consider ourselves successful is so sneaky. It moves in swiftly from the sidelines just when I think I have everything under control. Under the burden of performance I feel the onslaught of burn out and I hear the words from my own mouth, “I wish the world could just stop for one day.” How timely and liberating is the truth you’ve spoken.
You’re right on, Stephanie. The question to ask: Is this invitation an opportunity or a distraction? I want to know when to be still, but I also want to be busy and present at the same time. I am task oriented, so I have the tendency to be so on task that I don’t see what’s most important. Love you!
Great question for a proper evaluation. The answer is hard to know sometimes. Love you too!
As always Rebecca, fantastic. I shared this with my wife MaryBeth. We have had many conversations like this recently as we race to keep up with our children and grandchildren. Thankfully our answer for now has been, live every moment we can with them. We keep that calendar full and always try and be grateful that God has allowed us the privilege to be part of these wonderful young people’s lives.
Keep up your great work. Your words of inspiration always touch me. Thank you so much.
Dan
Thank you, Dan. I’m making “in the moment” living my resolve. Please give my regards to MaryBeth. Blessings to you both, and all those kids and grands!