Hey Friends, Andrea back here again for Memory Keeping: Faith Edition! At the Illustrated Faith Print & Pray shop, there’s a huge variety of content with all kinds of designs and styles! I love that there is one place we can go to download all of these goodies and print them in an instant! One of my favorite things is the Beloved Society devotionals. I think it’s a combination of the quick devotional topic that is always relevant + the color combinations + those girls!! It’s a winning recipe and I always find myself excited to grab Beth’s latest kit.
When I work on a devo like this I start by gluing the devotional pages in my notebook so I can read and refer back to them as I work on my creative pages. Sometimes I highlight and sometimes I just read it through and immediately start digging in!
The topic I’m working on this week is about living in the moment we are in. Whether it’s the season or the actual moment – being there – and not wishing it away. Beth refers to Matthew 6:34 which is becoming my new favorite verse:
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
How profound! How often do we find ourselves wishing away the time? If only this day could be over. Can it be Friday already? Someday when the kids are gone. I’ll start exercising tomorrow. When I get my dream job. It got me thinking about how I see my moments – and if I really see them. As a memory keeper, it’s my life’s duty to capture the moments. To see them before they happen sometimes and freeze that slice of time so I can document it later. I feel like I’m pretty good at capturing the moment – but what about living in it? How am I doing there? Am I present? Am I looking at my phone? Am I being productive? Am I learning something or teaching my boys something important? Am I just soaking it in? What am I doing with my days?
So I scooped up the printables that are part of the devotional kit and the wordfetti caught my attention! I love having thought prompts to guide me through this creative process! Then I remembered that I had a page of more wordfetti from Elaine Davis and started cutting out words like a crazy person – “Oh! This one is perfect! This one too – oh don’t forget to snip that one!” All the words that represent how I live my moments were laying on my desk in front of me.
Mixing up the white strips with the colored ones made my heart so happy too. It is a true representation of where I am right now and the things I want to savor currently. What does your currently look like?
Maybe it’s just so easy to imagine ourselves a little less fluffy, or what life would be like in a new job, or what we’re going to do over the weekend. We can see those things clearly sometimes. We are part of a society that is rushing and planning and moving forward very quickly that it’s hard to keep still. How do you stop and pause when everything around you is going so fast?
It reminds me of the river that flows through our town. Over the winter we were hit with more rain than we’ve seen in over 5 years of drought conditions and the melted snow came barreling down from the Sierras into the American River like an avalanche. People came out to watch the crazy water rush down over the giant trees and boulders that reside in it. I can’t help but think about those rocks now. At times, it’s not the best idea to just stand there – not moving – while life passes you by. But there’s something to be said for pausing and enjoying the amazing force that is the river rushing around you and knowing you’re totally good where you are.
So again, how do we work on living in the moment? How can we be the rock in the river? I think we need a fun homework assignment! Here are some things I do to help me pause.
- Look around and observe. Don’t complain or compare. Just observe. What does it smell like? What sounds do you hear? Who is with you? My favorite time of day to do this exercise is in the evenings when things can get crazy at my house. If you keep a journal or have a notebook, just write down what you observe.
- Take a photo. Don’t style it or clean up. If it’s a selfie, just smile. If it’s of your kids playing in the yard, don’t pick up the toys, just snap. Capture some real right now moments before they are gone.
- Make a list. Make a list of all of the good and bad things happening right now. Leave room to add more when they come into your mind. It can be very detailed or just a few words. The purpose is to remind yourself that this is life. Right now. And it will change. But capturing and documenting the little and big things are a great way to settle in for the ride!
Don’t worry – I won’t ask for you to turn these in! :) But I do hope you find some ways to live in the moment and appreciate life as it is right now.
Until next time, friends!
Andrea
Hi! Love your post! Where did you get those scissors? They’re gorgeous!