Tag: being present

A Letter to my Daughters about Today

May 23, 2012 /

On this blog I share stories from my life, but my deepest prayer is that they wouldn’t be just about me, but about all of us and our quest to see the hand of God in all of life.  Even though this is to my daughters I hope it’s meaningful for parents and sons and daughters alike.

Dear Precious Girls,

As I write this we’re on our third flight coming home from Sri Lanka, through Bombay and Amsterdam.  Too much time to think.  Feeling out of sync with time changes, and nostalgic, and ready to sleep in my own bed and be in a normal summer routine that includes Minnesota lakes and green grass.

In this season, traveling to exotic places, experiencing the humidity and dust of ancient cultures, the taste of unusual spices and the the smell of incense and poverty, I am grateful.  But I also long for home and the simplicity of summer days when you both were little.

Playing Monopoly and hopscotch on the driveway, picking strawberries, and making water balloons, and walking to the library as we were serenaded by cicadas.  Creating forts and reading Betsy, Tacy, and Tib aloud on hot summer afternoons that we savored like melting popsicles, slurping up the goodness of the day.

I think in contrast, of this season of your life now, as young professional women living in D.C. where you have a vibrant faith community, stimulating dialog about important ideas, and the opportunity to experience Supreme Court arguments, Embassy receptions, and White House fireworks.  A good, good season.

I want you to savor every moment, drink up every drop.  To choose life in all its fullness.  This is the season of your life when you’ll set courageous goals and experience lovely victories and maybe fall flat on your face some too.  You’ll nurture deep friendships, look to wise mentors, and invest in causes that are deeply meaningful.

It’s the season when you get to ask yourself,  “What story do I want to be able to tell in fifteen years?”

In this season I pray you’ll pause, not only to acknowledge the good gifts, but also the Gift Giver.  Yeah, I know there are rough days with job stress, and not enough money, and bad hair days, and questions about what’s next and where, but still…

I may be tempted to look back with longing, and you to look forward with longing, but meanwhile there’s today.  Gregory Boyle quotes Thich Nhat Hahn saying “our true home is the present moment.”

The Desert Fathers would repeat one word over and over.  Not “Jesus” or “Love”, but the word, “today”.  It reminded them where they needed to be.

So today, where you are, and where I am, let’s just choose life and thanksgiving in the present.  God is good.  We get to sing “Great is Thy Faithfulness” in every season.

And when you come home this summer for a visit, let’s be sure to play Monopoly and go to Dairy Queen.

How to Be Where You Are

January 23, 2012 /

I love this photo I saw recently of a basket at the door to someone’s home.

But beyond that, what about the Obama White House, where cabinet members needed to tag and leave their phones before entering a meeting?

Be where you are.

I love these examples because they model what we all desire.  For people to be truly present and attentive.

But it’s also convicting, because I’m an ADD, multi-tasking friend and wife who isn’t always “present” to others.

Have you ever been talking to someone on the phone and can hear them typing on their computer while they talk to you?  Or people having coffee with you, texting (even under the table!) at the same time they’re talking to you?  Or you’re in a meeting and someone is surreptitiously checking FB?

Does it make you wonder if you’re that boring?  Or if they’re that important?

I keep thinking of Luke 10 where it says “Martha was distracted“, but “Mary chose what was better.”  Being present to Jesus.  Is technology distracting me from my relationship with Jesus, others, and even myself?

Just this morning as I was reading scripture, and praying, I stopped to text someone I thought of.  Could it have waited?  Absolutely.  I wonder…when we’re not fully present are we really saying to the other (in this case, Jesus)…

  • Someone or something else is more important than you.
  • I am more important than you.
  • Posting, tweeting, texting, being in demand defines my value.

Here’s something that really impacted me this week.  I’m not an “important” person (yeah, yeah, I know I’m important to God, but I mean in a worldly sense).  I’m not famous, but somehow I’ve been privileged to spend time with many people who are.  Leaders who are having a huge impact in the world.  They are smart, articulate, anointed, sought after, and extremely busy.

This past week I was with one of the most gifted, influential teachers of our day, and the thing that struck me the most powerfully was that I never once saw him check his iphone while he was with us.

He wasn’t receiving texts during dinner.

He didn’t interrupt conversations to answer a call.

His eyes didn’t stray around, searching for more “important” people other than who he was talking to.

And he didn’t hurry through the room.  He was truly present to the people he was with.

That in itself is a big deal.  But the question I thought of beyond that was, what does this say about his ability to be present to Jesus?  To not allow the demands, interruptions, requests, distract him from the discipline of being truly with Jesus?  I wonder if these two things are related.

How might the practice of being present to Jesus affect our ability to be present to each other?  And vice versa.  Does practicing being present in one relationship carry over into another?

How can we “Hang up and arrive.” as Jon Acuff says?

Are there times we leave our phone at home?  Days we turn it off?

How much does technology affect your ability to be present to Jesus and others?

What to do if you’re not sure someone is Homeless

October 17, 2011 /

We were in D.C. a couple weeks ago visiting our daughters, Katy and Maggie.  One morning I was at a Starbucks waiting for Maggie.  I was sitting at a table outside at the busy intersection of 15th and K.  Sitting next to me was an African American man.  Here’s what went through my mind…

He looks like he might be homeless.

We usually keep McDonald’s gift cards to give to people in need who we might meet, but I don’t have any with me right now.  

I do have my CVS Pharmacy Frequent customer card…                                                                                                                                

He has a multiple plastic bags and he’s drinking milk from a half-gallon jug.              

Maybe he’s not homeless!  (maybe I have no responsibility)                                                 

He has a scraggly beard, but his clothes don’t look dirty.                                                  

He’s bought a drink from Starbucks and he’s not asking for money or anything, just eating his breakfast.                                                                                                                        

D.C. has one of the highest crime rate in the nation – lots of angry people.  What if  I say “Hi” and he gets angry, pulls out a gun, and shoots me!? (ok, maybe I have a bit of an imagination)

I figure my choices are:

A.  Pray fervently that he’s an eccentric millionaire and will finish his breakfast and go to go to his fancy office.

B. Move to a different table where I can do my devotions and read about Jesus without having to worry about homeless people.      

C. Leave Starbucks, try to find a McDonald’s, come back, and “accidentally” drop a gift card along with a nice Bible verse on his table as I walk by.                                                    

D. Say, “Hi, my name is Laura, are you homeless (or a psychopath and if so please don’t shoot me)?”

Maggie and a friend arrived and the man left, but I continued to think about him the rest of the day.  As I reflected on what Jesus would have done, what struck me was that it wouldn’t have mattered whether the person was homeless or a housewife, a drug-addict or a demagogue.

I think He would have made a point of acknowledging them – of honoring the person by looking them in the eye with love and respect, and if nothing else, I think He would have greeted them, because who doesn’t want to feel noticed and welcomed?

I think the bottom line is that Jesus would always turn TOWARDS and not away. (I LOVE Mark 10:21 when Jesus is with the rich young ruler – “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”)

So who am I turning away from today?  Or who am I too self-conscious or self-absorbed to speak to?  Where is Jesus in all of this?

Have you ever been in a situation like this where you weren’t sure what Jesus would do? Or you knew what He’d do, but it felt too uncomfortable for you?

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