In Between
I’m learning to live better in the time/space between… aka “now.” This is a strange place for me. I tend to clarify and plan for what is ahead, then move toward that. “Without a vision, the people perish.” Generally, this is an acceptable practice. However, I find that I can be too focused on what lies ahead, ignoring or minimizing the present (especially when it doesn’t fit with the future I see). Further, it is easy for people to become secondary to plans. Never my intention, but too common when I get so focused on the future that achieving it becomes my only aim.
Part of what makes my sabbatical so good for me is the necessity to live in the now. Yes, this time will end and we will move into the next season soon enough. And yes, we will have to do certain things – even make a few plans – to begin the next adventure. But for now, I am living where I am. Spending lots of times with my wife and kids. Seeing friends. Reading. Resting. Getting caught up. I believe all this and more will indeed prepare me for what’s next. But I’m not doing all this SIMPLY TO GET READY, as if this is only a means to an end. It is all good for what it is.
Hear me – I’m not just biding my time or waiting until something better comes along. I am enjoying each day for what it is. True, it’s not my dream place or situation. But there is so much I CAN enjoy. I am reminded of when Jesus ascended to heaven in Acts 1 and his disciples were looking into the sky where he had disappeared. Two men in white (angels?) appeared to them and said, “men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?” In other words, get on with life. Not because Jesus isn’t coming back. He is. But there’s a lot of life to be had in the meantime. Don’t just wait around for the future to arrive.
Every day matters:
- a habit can change
- a word can lift someone’s spirits
- an accident can be prevented
- something big can be accomplished
- decisions can be made that affect everything else
- a million moments take place that will never come again
God wants us to live now. Yes, there’s forever too. But it doesn’t start when we die. It’s starts now.

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