by Beth Vogt @BethVogt
Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” A nonfiction writer and editor who said she’d never write fiction, Beth is now a novelist with Howard Books. She enjoys writing inspirational contemporary romance because she believes there’s more to happily-ever-after than the fairy tales tell us. Connect with Beth on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or check out her blog on quotes, In Others’Words.
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| "Wherever you are - Be all there." ~Jim Elliot |
Wherever you
are … be all there.
It’s
easy to “be all there” when where I am is a good place to be.
When life is
going my way. When circumstances are favorable. When all’s well with the world
— and when my relationships are peaceful and easy.
But being all
there — and staying there — when life is careening out of my control? When
the longed for yes is an unwanted and unyielding no?
Well, sometimes that’s when I go looking for the EXIT.
The times when
I am able to stay … to be all there when I really, really want to be somewhere
else — that’s when I learn the most. When I change the most. When I see the
things … or the people … or the hidden truth that I might have missed if
I’d walked away.
Being all
there is about doing life on purpose. Paying attention. Being all there costs
you something. But it also gives you something in return: experience. Life
change. Understanding. Appreciation.
In Your
Words: How do you ensure that you’re “all there” in the day to day of your
life? What have you learned by doing life on purpose and paying attention?
TWEETABLE
The importance of "Being All There" - thoughts from author @BethVogt on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Beth, Thank you for this. I have struggled with "Being all there" I was focused on the next thing. "Let's get her done" was my motto. God allowed fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue to slow me down. There was a time I could only chose one thing to do per day. Clean, walk, fellowship, shop or read. My busy life was pretty much gone. That is when I realized being all there was so important. I have missed out on many great conversations and family time because my mind was on the next activity. I still have to remind myself to live in the moment when my brain begins to move onto the next activity. I am enjoying life more.
ReplyDeletecheerilynn, I so relate...God slowed me down in the same way. I no longer set unrealistic goals...except to be all there in the presence of Jesus...and allow him to order my days. I don't always accomplish the goals I would like to set, but I am learning to choose the better part.
DeleteCherrilynn: It was during a season of unexpected illness that I first started learning how to slow down too. All the things I had to do? Well, I could no longer do them -- any of them. It was all about recovery and just being. Now the biggest threat to "being all there" with people is the ever-present invasiveness of technology: cell phones and such.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, you both speak my language. Beth I so enjoyed this blog. If I remember right, you live in West Virginia...right?
ReplyDelete