My Cup Overflows

Photo by Landon Stefanski on Unsplash 

Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever.  Praise be His holy name.  Praise Him in all things for His goodness, His wisdom, His provision, His perfect mercy and justice.  Praise Him for His constancy, for His inspirations.  Praise Him!

Thank You, Lord, for Your presence.  Thank You for Your instruction.  Thank You for being with us while we wait on Your plan, in Your time, in Your way.  Thank You for all that was, is, and is to come.  Thank You for all thy benefits.  

We are sorry, God, for the times that we have failed to notice Your work in our lives.  We are sorry for the difficulty of finding joy in our crosses.  We are sorry for our forgetfulness and short sightedness.  We are sorry for the times we have forgotten that You are with us. We are sorry for the times we have forgotten to thank You.  

I am in a strange season in life.  I am a daughter.  I have aging parents who live four hours away.  I am a sister.  My sister and I try to find time to reconnect regularly.  I am a wife. I have the best husband and we have made weekly date nights a priority! I am a mother.  I have teenagers in high school that I teach and four adult children in various stages of life and one with health issues.  I am a teacher and tutor for others as well.  I am a grandmother.  I desire to be a blessing to my children and grandchildren by helping regularly.  I am a friend and sister in Christ.  I try to set aside time to visit regularly with women for encouragement and fun.  Needless to say I am in the midst of a BUSY season.  

For someone like me who requires quiet and stillness in order to ponder, being busy is challenging.  I feel like I miss out on being fully present in the moment because I am always considering what obligation is waiting for my attention.  This is not a struggle for some, but it is for me.  

This struggle, though, has allowed me to practice discerning my priorities and protecting my time.  It requires me to set aside some time to attempt to calm my mind and sit and listen for His still small voice.  Sometimes, my imagination is involved.  

While I sat in the chapel waiting for my daughter to finish choir practice, I imagined a cali lily.  I was able to study the image in my mind and noticed it was delicate yet sturdy and formed a sort of “cup” while standing firm.  I could sense the words, “Allow yourself to be filled with delight.  Delight in Me!  Be present!” It is almost as if I am to be the lily’s “cup!”  

That is easy to say, but not simple to do.  I do not want to just listen for His still small voice; I want Him to direct me so as to grow in the way and at the time He instructs me.  What does it look like to be filled with delight?  How am I to delight in Him? What can I do to practice being present? 

In the past, I have learned that delighting in Him means delighting in others.  I am gathering that if I can just practice being fully present to others, delight will be the outcome.  I will be filled.  

For now, I am attempting small habits to be fully present – silencing my phone, looking people in the eye, putting down anything I might be holding while having a conversation, turning my body toward others.  I have also been practicing reaching out to those that cross my mind randomly. I have been trying to say my OMG prayers when someone crosses my mind: O - Our Father…, M- Hail Mary…, G- Glory Be… These are all such small habits, but God knows my learning style!  He knows if He asked for something big, I would be overwhelmed or I would overthink it.  These small goals seem attainable, and as I have practiced them, I do find they fill me with delight!  My lily cup overflows! 

How do you delight in Him?  How has God guided you to practice being present?  Share, share, share!  You never know who needs to hear your story!