We have all heard of the bible verse above. Personally, I had probably read it a thousand times in my past before I let the words sink in and really started living in the present. Sometimes in life, we get so fixated on wanting to achieve something or get to a certain place in life that we forget to stop and appreciate what is happening NOW.

I remember having a late night conversation about this topic, with a good friend of mine from Spartanburg Methodist College, where I got my associates degree. I remember saying something along the lines of, “If I could just finish college and have a real job, I’ll be content.” The person I was talking to stopped me in my tracks by calling me out on what I had just said. My friend told me, so many people live in that mindset, “If I could just get here or if I could just move here or if I could just earn this job or if I could just meet the right person, etc.” Then proceeded to tell me, when we choose to live our lives that way, we don’t see all of the great things that God is doing in our lives right now.

After being called out personally, it made me start to believe the words above. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself.” Matthew 6:34

It is so easy to get ahead of ourselves and live in the future. While it is great to have goals and work hard toward something, if we think about it too much, we forget to enjoy all of the great blessings that God is pouring over us now.

For Harry and I, we dream of the day that we will own a house. We are still living the good life in an apartment and we drive by all of these cute neighborhoods all of the time and wonder when will that be us. We’re really not quite sure yet where we want to settle down and buy a house. I know that at the right time, God will show us the right place. For now, we are grateful for the home we do have and I know that we will be able to tell our kids one day how we started our married life in an apartment and had to work toward something greater!

Another example, I am proud to say that Harry starts a new job TOMORROW at USC Upstate where we both graduated with our bachelor degrees. He will be an admission counselor/ college recruiter. Before this door was opened, Harry was working at a local middle school as the In School Suspension teacher. While he enjoyed the job and knew he was making a positive impact on those students, he couldn’t wait to see what would be next. We would pray about his next step daily, and God really showed us patience through our prayers. We would constantly remind ourselves that God is using us right where we are now and we learned to be grateful for that. It is all about God’s timing!

God has us right where he wants us at all times. It may be hard to see that but it is so true. If we are breathing, then God is using us and He has a plan for us.

Now every time, I start thinking about the future and getting ahead of myself, I always remind myself to be thankful for the present and Matthew 6:34!