Wherever you are...

“Wherever you are, be all there” –Jim Elliot

This quote has been on repeat in my mind and life since I stumbled upon it while writing a paper about Elisabeth Elliot last semester. Various truths ring from it depending on the day. Today the Lord used a friend to speak this wisdom to me once again.

This semester the Lord is teaching me to rest. I am currently taking one of the hardest courses I may ever take. Amidst the study plans and overflowing syllabus over and over the Lord keeps urging me to put down my books and to wander around outside. Or lie on my floor and think. Or have that extra-long conversation with whoever just happened to cross my path.

I am a planner. Making lists, determining the most efficient route to accomplish errands, scheduling my day so I can fit in maximum activities…these are all things that fill my mind and notepads. Yet, somehow, when I toss these things aside (which lately is more often than not) everything still gets done…and more. There is a richness to living a day at a time, even a moment at a time. A peace in truly being ALL THERE…wherever that may be.

I am a planner and I count it as a gift, but sometimes our gifts become our vices. My planning allows me to be efficient; to accomplish many tasks and keep a step ahead. But when I allow my planning to extend beyond the day I have been given I find I am clinging more to control than faith. When I catch myself playing out scenarios of future situations I have to stop and realize the futility. I realize there are things I am missing around me right now. I am wasting time.

So today I wandered around campus for an extra twenty minutes just because it was so pretty. I took a study break earlier than planned and ran into a friend. Through our conversation he spoke to me words I needed to hear. For months I have been toying with the idea of blogging. It is an intimidating thing. Putting thoughts out there in a world where they can fly around the internet and out of my control in seconds. I know the power of words because of my personal formation that has come from other people’s musings. It’s a lot of pressure. But when Emmanuel said, unprompted and out of nowhere, “you should blog”…I felt I had to listen.

I was planning to study all day…but I’m thankful I traded some of that time to wander and just be.