Wednesday, April 29, 2020

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Moments matter.  As I sat down to begin writing, I put the thumb drive in the computer and opened the file that contains all my 😎🐫🎤 messages and song list.  What…Why is the file empty?  Okay, close it out and reopen it.  Nope, still empty.  Okay, move it from one port to a different port.  What?  Did I seriously delete 5+ years of messages???  Well, it would take awhile to rebuild, but I’m not going to stress about it.  I need to focus on today’s message and just start writing.  This thumb drive has been kind of touchy lately.  I better copy the files to another drive before I lose them all.  Silly me.  I was looking for my file on the wrong drive.  Here it is!  It’s okay, you can laugh with me.  I was laughing at myself.  Me and computers have a love hate relationship.  I love it when they work and hate it when I don’t know how to make them work.  Some of you may have the same kind of relations with technology.  I’m sure some of you have also proven the definition of insanity by trying the same thing over and over again and expected different results.  Although this could have been a potentially stressful moment, God guided me to keep focused, not worry about trying to recoup the past, and press on with the task at hand.  By doing so, I found my “lost” files and He reshowed me the peace He brings if we trust Him and live in the moment.  You know, not get swept away and overcome with fear, stress, anger…

In light of the unexpected changes within our world lately, you may be experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions trying to deal with your new social distance / closer family normal.  It’s been interesting talking with individuals that normally don’t work from home.  We love our children, but you have to admit it can be a BIG change to be around them 24/7.  It makes me smile, although those that I was talking with weren’t smiling at the time.  I’ve heard construction work going on, dogs barking, packages be delivered, kids crying and yelling “Dad!  I want to play with that!”  I’ve heard parents walking into different rooms trying to find a quite place to conduct business, only to find those little ones like a trail of chicks were still at their feet.  True, we aren’t able to attend normal church services right now, but I think we’ve all probably experienced parents trying to keep their children quiet in church so they don’t disrupt the service and embarrass the parents.  Now that I’m no longer on the side of experiencing those moments as a parent, I’m able to find peace, calm, and a smile in moments like those.  I’ve also learned to say a prayer for the parent as well as the child so that they to will experience peace, calm and a smile.  Yes, these can be very challenging moments, but they are also opportunities to actively seek Christ’s peace and the blessings He is offering you and your family.  Seek the joy, the playfulness, the gazes, hugs and kisses that you wouldn’t otherwise had the moments together to experience.  For a couple years Brian and I worked side by side.  It certainly wasn’t always hunky dory, but there was no doubt that the good times far outweighed the challenging and we both agree that we had great conversations that we wouldn’t have otherwise been able to experience.  Soak in these moments and don’t allow yourself to be distracted.  Every one is precious and a gift to receive.  Both for you and them.  Bless others and be blessed.

#JeremyCamp – Keep Me in the Moment