Today has been a busy day. First, there was the Hixson Wildcats Crawl at which my daughter and I were volunteer water station folks. From there I went to the last session of our Soulfeast study at church, a brunch gathering to finish out the last two chapters of the book by Marjorie Thompson that we've been going through this fall. Then, it was to the daughter's piano class. Tomorrow is recital day. I took a short break before going out to the grocery store.
This morning I opened up the Jesus Calling devotional by Sarah Young as I was heading out the door. I chuckled as I read the first line: "As you look at the day before you, you see a twisted, complicated path, with branches going off in all directions. You wonder who you can possibly find your way through that maze." As I read further along, these words caught my attention: "As you look again at the path ahead, you notice that a peaceful fog has settled over it, obscuring your view. You can see only a few steps in front of you, so you turn your attention more fully to Me and begin to enjoy My Presence. The fog is a protection for you, calling you back to the present moment."
There was a bit of fog today, so this was very appropriate.
I attempted to be present in the moment at each place, enveloped in what I was doing at the time. There is truly something to the foggy aspect of things and not being able to see that which is further down the road. It does cause you to focus on the present.
When driving in dense fog, one tends to become very aware of one's very present surroundings. I remember driving up the "W road" on Signal Mountain to visit a friend once. It wasn't foggy in the valley, but when I came to the "W", it became super thick. It was a dark night and I simply couldn't see anything. I rolled down my windows and was listening for cars coming down the "W" portion as that was the scariest portion for me to be when I couldn't see. I had to trust my other facilities and keep moving.
Though I haven't fully kept my attention in the present moment throughout the day, I have been able to at least be more intentional about doing so.
The last line in the devotional is this: "Someday the fog will no longer be necessary, for you will have learned to keep your focus on Me and on the path just ahead of you."
I went back through my blog posts and found that I had included some quotes from this devotion back in 2011 (November 24). That title was: Thoughts and quotes from Jesus Calling over the last few days and weeks.
Though I didn't include the last line of the devotional in that blog post, just the fact that it caught my attention then and now again makes me think I haven't quite gotten to the point of the fog no longer being necessary in my life. That's okay. Even though fog can be scary at times, it is also quite beautiful, peaceful, and serene.
Just this past week I was able to witness a gorgeous sunrise on the lake in the fog.
If I need the fog to help me stay better focused and to live in the present, I'll live into that. I do enjoy the clear blue sky days and/or white puffy clouds too that expand across the sky. Maybe those are days that I'm not needing to focus on the present, but rather days in which I'm to plan and dream. Hmmm...
Something to contemplate at a later time. At this present moment I need to bring this to a close and switch gears to planning a lesson.
How do you stay focused on the present moment?
How does the fog analogy speak to you?
Blessings on your journey,
Debra
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