Lately my thoughts have felt scattered. My mind has been in different times and places. I jump from thoughts of the past (life at home, the past 4 years in Germany), to thoughts of the present (Germany, my friends, students, lesson plans, field trips), to thoughts of the future (next year’s teachers at BFA, my life at home in Illinois, jobs, friends, my boyfriend). My thoughts are here, there, everywhere: here in Germany, there in Illinois, there in Minnesota. Prayers turn into plans, meditations turn into movement. It’s hard to sit still and just be.
Be still and know that I am God.
Recently, I found myself frustrated because I had to seriously make myself finish putting away the groceries before allowing myself to hang up my laundry to dry. In the midst of both of those activities, I was also tempted to write a quick email to someone, add a few items to the grocery list, add another idea to a lesson plan, post grades for my class, upload some pictures to my computer, finish filling out a form so I can add more pages to my passport, call a friend about a student, write reference letters for a couple students, and schedule a time in my weekend to do something about the lingering job applications I haven’t finished. Or started, in the case of at least one. And I’m thankful that the car is back from the shop, because that was on my mind last week!
This blog post reminded about my need to focus on one thing at a time.
“There are no habits without the habit of being focused.”
So right now, I’m reminding myself to focus on one thing at a time, to give my full attention to each task at hand. It takes faith. I have to trust God, trust that He knows how all the billion pieces of the puzzle of my life fit together. Transition tries to scatter my life into bits and pieces that don’t fit together, but really, all the pieces do fit together beautifully. If I stop and look at each piece long enough and see the Potter behind it, everything else seems to fall into place. Finding joy in each moment is a discipline – the discipline of focus.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
– Hebrews 12:1-2
