Be In The Moment

Dear Friend:

I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3John 1:1-5

Someone sent me this greeting for the New Year and I thought it was just beautiful. The letter really starts out with “the elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.” Gaius is a leader in the church and housed many travelling teachers and dealt with affairs of the church.

So I was thinking about this greeting and how special it was for John to be so warm and encouraging to Gaius. Don’t we need to greet each other with more love and encouragement? I have been thinking about how our children are being raised to meet high goals and expectations and our body language and words can become very businesslike. Because we are trained to meet goals we greet them with our checklist. Have you done this to your loved ones? Have you felt like cutting off those that call and ask how you are? Don’t you sometimes think in your head “get to the point of why you called, stop the small talk?” Do you run around with your checklist written or in your head? Do you have trouble being “in the moment?” The M.O. of the world “you got to show you are producing.” Whether you recognize it or not, it is stressing us out! We have lost the art of just “BEING IN THE MOMENT.” Being in the moment is sitting having coffee, lunch (whatever) and listening and sharing without always checking your text messages, cell phone or checklist, but truly putting those things aside and enjoying who you are with. Try it with your kids or loved ones. Try to put everything aside and give them attention. Maybe tell them you are working on this. You may have to train the kids to “be in the moment” because they can’t put down their cell phone for one minute (have you noticed that?)
At Christian camp we don’t allow cell phones or ipods. The kids always thank me at the end of the camp and they always get why we take them away.

Will you pray with me: Father in heaven thank you for a new year. Thank you for______. I pray in this New Year that you can help me to be more in the moment with others. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

I sincerely greet you as John greeted Gaius and pray that you can be more in the moment with others THIS NEW YEAR. I pray that you find time to read the bible this year. It is already six days into the New Year, but just find online a site that teaches you to read through the bible. Here is the one I use.
http://www.turningpointonline.org/site/R?i=DGAHmtiEqjojeNnPi_y6Pg
Pickup with today’s date and don’t worry just “be in the moment.”

Trying to be more in the moment,
Elaine