I have been living on an I-hate-this-summer plateau, and everything/everyone around me has been getting creamed with sticky, unnecessary blame. The restless urging is always whispering incessantly “look to your future, Emily!” My stomach is always telling me that something drastic is going to happen, something life-changing, something empowering. I’m in a constant state of hunger for new faces, places, and experiences; my impulses beg for new conquests and adventures. Call me a dreamer, but my head hurts with exciting possibilities. I’m waiting… waiting for the age-old tale of pauper to prince, ordinary to extraordinary; the transformation that always precedes the ‘happily ever after’. My sensory organs have become dulled to the smell of green grass, and I’m always peeking at the neighbor’s yard. I’ve obliterated the word ‘content’ from my vocabulary, and have been searching the dictionary for a word that justifies my raunchy attitude.

But then I started thinking about what could happen if I dropped that mentality and put my thoughts and efforts into what truly is at hand. If I learn to focus on the here and now, to break the tunnel vision focused on the future and what if’s. I wonder if God would breathe a sigh of relief knowing I finally had surrendered my future to him. The present will determine my future, so why not slow down and look around at what needs to be done, what could be done, and what should be done? It’s time I stifle the dreams of a greater destiny that gives me hope of a daring and heroic future, and earnestly accept the challenge to spend TODAY with the all sufficient, all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and merciful God. Who am I to predict my future? Who am I to color where lines haven't yet been clearly made and no form has taken place? If I stroke the brush on paper that is directly before me, a picture will start to form.

“Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand” – Thomas Carly

Lord, help me be content.