The Value of This Moment (don’t miss it!)

Whatever it looks like, the moment I’m in has value. When will I remember that?

Whatever it looks like, the moment you're in has value. Click To Tweet

Up to my elbows in suds, I silently huffed about  the lack of help I had around the house during this season. With the older two away at college and the youngest involved in high school, more of the household chores fell to me to squeeze into my already busy day.

Yet the more I reflected on the years past and the years to come, the more I realized how important each moment was. Even the ones I didn’t particularly like (or have time for).

Each Moment Has Value

I wrestled to comprehend how nearly 22 years of motherhood had became a blink. Those years vanished nearly as quickly as the bubbles in my dishwater.

In those years, every day has brought gifts; every day has brought growth opportunities. Looking back, few have gone exactly as I wanted.

But no matter how difficult a day has been, none have been devoid of all good.

No matter how difficult a day has been, none have been devoid of all good. Click To Tweet

Appreciate the Nows You Have

It’s humbling, grounding really. Once a day is gone, there’s no getting that time back.

It’s a call to be grateful for each remaining moment. To be fully present and appreciative of the time we have. This time. The now we’re in.

Because none of us know how many of those nows we will have. 

Within each 24 hours, we have precious minutes to live out. Some are difficult, others are sad, still others are joy-filled. Yet each one contributes to the story we’re living out. Each one has value to offer.

Each moment (the difficult, the sad, the joy filled) contributes to the story we're living out. Each one has value to offer. Click To Tweet

I pray that you and I would have renewed appreciation for the now we experience, whatever that looks like. Join me?

Prayer for Renewed Appreciation

Dear Father,
There are times I’d rather not face. I’ve asked You to remove them. There are
times I want to hold on to. I’ve asked You to repeat them. Yet none of these
moments have caught you by surprise. You are well aware of my desires, yet
in your sovereignty You’ve allowed the hard, the unexpected, the change.
Because Your sight is infinite, where mine is limited. Because You love me and
know what is best for me.

Help me to embrace this moment. Not the one I long for, but now, this instant.
You’ve ordained and allowed each one. You’ll bring sweet moments, and
You’ll redeem the hard and ugly ones.

Thank You for not giving up on me, but for believing me worthy of each day.
Despite my ingratitude. Despite my insistence that things go my way.

Lord, renew my mind and my heart to trust You. To believe You have my best
in mind. Help me to see each day as a gift, to look for the worth of each moment.
And, Jesus, when I can’t see that value, help me to trust it’s there anyway.

In Your most holy and precious name. Amen!

Key to Embracing the Moment

There are days you and I’ll anticipate more than others. That’s simply human.

But the key to embracing each moment, no matter what it looks like, is to reframe it in the bigger picture of faith, to be grateful for God’s hand in it. 

The key to embracing each moment is to reframe it in the bigger picture of faith, to be grateful for God's hand in it. Click To Tweet

Then we can walk through the hard and the sad and the aggravating times with a measure of joy.  

“In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man cannot discover anything that will come after him.” Ecclesiastes 7:14

Reflections: Do you live wishing for a different moment? Craft a prayer similar to mine (or adopt mine) to use as a reminder of the value of all moments, even those unwanted ones. 

Gifts

Going on 5 years of counting and I’m nearing 5,000 gifts in Ann Voskamp’s Joy Dare! What a blessing! Here are numbers #4,978–4,998. Read my entire list by clicking here.