I had an interesting realization this afternoon at Kroger. As I was walking out of the grocery store there was a boy in a jersey holding out his cap requesting donations for his 9-year old baseball team. I sighed as I thought that my little guys would be that big one day. Meanwhile, an elderly woman stopped to place change in his cap. She remarked to the boy and his mother, "My boys played baseball. They are all grown now and their boys play ball." As I was walking back to my car I started thinking about the 3 women. One looking forward hesitantly, one looking back wistfully and one burning up in the Summer sun with her boy.
Don't we all live in one of these 3 positions all the time? Looking back with longing or regret. Looking forward with fear or anticipation. Sweating out the work of the present. I was reminded of I Corinthians 17:7, a verse I treasured as a single woman at age 26. Who knew it would ring true in so many other stages of life?
Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. I Corinthians 7:17 (NIV)
And I love the Message translation as well:
Don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. I Corinthians 7:17a (The Message)
May we not be so busy looking back or looking forward we miss the beauty of what is right before us...and all the incredible things God is doing in us and through us in THIS moment.
8 comments:
I needed to read this today. I really needed to read this today.
Beautifully put JMom!
Chris in Canada
Perfect thought for the day. Contentment right here, right now, no matter the circumstances, whether it's a crying baby, tight finances, raising teens, kids moving away to college, or bringing grandbabies home. Great post. xoox
A precious reminder! Thank Jen!
Sweet blessings!
Renee
I just found your blog and have read through most of it in the last day or two. You write beautifully and are quite inspiring! Thank you for all that you share!
Maureen
J-
Thank you so much for posting that scripture. I've actually written it down on multiple pieces of paper to post around my house. You are an amazing woman of God.
-Grace
Oh how true this is! And yet it is so hard to follow sometimes! I spend a lot of time looking back and wondering where my babies went. But then I do look at them now and realize how much fun they are at this moment!
Now try telling this to your 4 year-old that constantly says "I want to be bigger. I want to be 11"
Thank you SO much for this encouraging post today! I love this verse (in both translations) and appreciate you pointing it out! This is something I need to be reminded of a lot lately.
I read your site on my bloglines everyday and am always encouraged. I actually have a lot of your posts saved so that I can come back to them for encouragement when I need it later.
Thank you for your openness and honesty on your site.
btw, I like the new look for your site. Like I said, i check it in bloglines, so I haven't seen it yet. :)
Post a Comment