In the Moment.

We grow up and are conditioned to think of what is to come.

We are asked questions of what we want to be when we "grow up".

We are asked of our dreams and hopes for the future.

Then...when we reach a certain age, suddenly, we are pressured to live in the "right now".

We are told to "live in the moment".

I believe every human has this hunger deep inside that so desperately wants to live out life so loud, as if today is our last day...

Because maybe we know, we aren't promised tomorrow and life really is as short as they say.

Yet as much as we want to live out this longing, to be "all in", in every moment, we don't know how to live this way.

Are we still waiting for that "someday", waiting to "grow up"...that we never really live at all?

We are stuck with this potential, the Lord has given us, because no one ever showed us how to unravel the gift.

Worse yet, what happens if those dreams don't come true? What happens when the plans fall through? What do we do when we don't become who we thought we wanted to be? Or what if the thing we thought we wanted so desperately comes to be, and it's the same as the rest of the world...broken.

What if we started asking children, "what do you want to do today?" Or "who do you want to be today?" What if we lived from day one, as if we only had that one day?

I believe it is necessary for believers to grasp hold of the reality of "life in the moment"... Valuable to our very salvation. And it has to do with freedom.

One of my favorite quotes from my dad, "Let disappointment become His appointment"

If Jesus is our only expectation, how can we be disappointed? He always comes through and His constant love always follows in His embrace.

There is freedom in "living in the moment".

We are free, when the Spirit lives in us, and we follow the Spirit. Cling to this truth.

We could fear less. We could be worry-less. We could rid ourselves of the "what ifs". We can live open-eyed to where Jesus is at work right now, instead of wondering how the story will all play out.

And we should be living this way...with less...because He commands us not to fear and not to worry... And when we have less of ourselves in the mess, He can pour more of the freedom and life in that He desires to give, so we can love the way we were purposed to...

2 Corinthians 3:17 "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom"

"Freedom" -without hindrance- -without restraint- -not being imprisoned- -able to move easily- -openness-

I'm so frustrated with the blank stares and the empty days.

What are you waiting for? Why aren't you living life full? Because if you are waiting for the Lord and your hope is in Him--in that waiting is praise and worship and awe. In that waiting--there is freedom to live in the now.

Maybe we need to relearn freedom.

And you can't learn that lesson by reading textbooks. It takes the relationship. It takes the belief. It takes action.

So who are you going to be today? What are you going to do today?

I still do not know what I want to be when I "grow up"...and I'm not even sure what age qualifies you as an adult. I have broken hopes. I have dreams that didn't end with happily ever after. I have people who, no matter how hard I try, won't like me. Life is full of brokenness.

But I know that I've been to more funerals this year than ever before in my life. And I've seen how life can end without hesitation.

So today, I follow Jesus.

And, in whatever moment He gives, I choose to live.