December Plan: The Daily Pursuit of Presence

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.  ~Matthew 6:31-34

This could read "What is for supper?" "When will I fold this laundry?" Heck...it could even read "When will I wash my hair?" (Dry shampoo can only do so much for so long.) 

As a wife, mother, and just straight up normal human being, I have a lot on my plate. We all do. So much to worry about. So much to do. I find this to feel true especially in the wonderful month of December. The most wonderful time of the year....and the craziest.

Hustle and bustle is in the air and a fear of mine is that I will allow myself to get caught up in the crazy. I fear that I will busy myself with the unimportant and miss the beauty that is the Advent season. 

I am scared that I'm going to miss my kids and miss my man and I am scared that I am going to miss my God.

The thing is, all of these busy things still need done. I still have to feed my kids and fold the laundry (eventually) and wash my hair (eventually) and buy the presents and do all the things. So when thinking about pursuing presence, I have realized it is not about changing things on the outside necessarily, its about changing myself of the inside.

To be present means to first and foremost ask God to be present in my life and to focus on His presence.  To fully be present in any situation or relationship I must begin there.

So my first step in pursuing presence this month is to seek out and be open to God's presence. As I mentioned before, I have been busying myself with looking for just the right book to speak to my heart. All along the perfect book has been siting a few feet away from me. Ashamedly, untouched for too long. God's Word is where I need to start.

I know finding and prioritizing special time between Him and I will change ev-er-y-thing. The trickle down affect will be palpable. 

After this I want to work on being present in all of my relationships. My relationship with my husband and my babies and my family and my friends....and even my relationship with myself. 

Its not that I am taking things off of my plate, its that I am am prioritizing my plate. 

My plan is to shift my perspective while still doing the things I need to get done. How can I connect with Emery while I am cooking supper? What can I do for myself so that I feel that I can better serve my people?

I am still going to be busy. I just don't want to feel busy in my heart. 

I don't have all the answers yet of course. This is all going to be a learning process.

I do know off the top of my head I need to put down the phone when I am at home, I need to stop multi-tasking (as much as I do now anyway) and I need to be okay with imperfection.

Whew. Okay. I can do this. And I am very much looking forward to the changes that are to come this Christmas Season.