Speak to My Soul Sunday – Fully Present


Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and you are interacting and yet not fully present? You know, you are nodding, saying something every now and then (more like an ‘uh huh’), and smiling the whole time, while in your head you are somewhere else. Making the grocery list, finishing their sentences, coming up with your reply, reviewing an argument with a loved one, or several other thousand random thoughts when in all reality you should be listening to the other person?

Come on, let’s be honest! I know I am not the only one who has done this, nor am I the only one (I hope) that struggles with this. Right?

This last year or so God has really convicted me that I need to focus on being “fully present”. It’s really hard for me, because I am a multi-tasking maniac, I like to have my laptop open, with a dual screen, with 5-8 tabs open (twitter, blog, business, Ning groups, facebook, etc.) my ear piece in just in case my cell phone rings, the tv on so I can catch up on the news, and sometimes music in the background as well. (Talk about input overload)

So, when I visit with a friend, pray with someone, lead Bible study, or have an important talk with my family, it is a struggle for me to not have my mind wander in a thousand other places. I am trying to do so many things for so many people so that I could make a big difference, when in all reality what I need to start with is the small thing in front of me.

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee. ~Marian Wright Edelman

What I have learned though is that the people that I am communicating with (or better yet, not really communicating with) are not getting me, they are only getting a small part of me. I want to be “fully present” in the here and now, I want to make sure that I am being all that God created me to be, not what “I” want to be, do, or get done.

I love this verse I found in Romans 15:14, I’m simply underlining how very much I need your help in carrying out this highly focused assignment God gave me…

My friends, my family, and my God deserve my best and I am NOT giving them my best if I am only “half” listening or paying attention. They need me to STOP all the random thoughts in my head and FOCUS on whatever is right in front of me. Like I said I want to live a life “fully present” to where God places me, don’t you?

Start with me today…join me in this battle to STOP all the random thoughts and FOCUS on being right there wherever God has me being fully present.

What keeps you from being completely “there”? What/Where does your mind tend to drift instead of being “Fully Present”?


Trying to be focused,

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