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Wait a minute….<3

Happy Friday!

As you may know, this blog was birthed by a weekly inspirational email I sent out for several years.

I always sent it on Thursday…please do not ask me why…I have no idea.

But with changes in our schedule, I just moved it to Fridays and the first one went out today and you all are getting blessed to share it here…but you get pictures…so BAM!!!!

Here we go….

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How did we do with the move to Friday for this email?

I have to say, I felt a little off-kilter not writing you yesterday morning … but we know change is not my strong suit. 

And I forget that sometimes change is so subtle, I am unaware of how my groove is off until I push pause and look around for the source of my disequilibrium. 

Stepping outside of the immediate, I view the course of my life as it is flowing past and I can see where the river banks have taken a bend or two. 

It helps me to understand how I have begun to conform to a new normal without even realizing it.

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This happened to me in an “ah-ha!” way as I was driving home after work on Wednesday.

I pulled up to a stoplight and the pickup truck ahead me had a decal on the back with the phrase: “Someone in Texas loves me!” 

My first instinct, as the car idled, was to reach for my phone to snap a picture so I could send to John. 

But before the light changed to green in a span of about thirty seconds; here was the barrage of thoughts that accompanied my reaching over….

  • I could send it on our family text, so everyone can see it
  •  Would this make a good instagram post?
  • No. That would be dumb. No one but family would get it. 
  •  Maybe even my family would think it’s dumb.
  •  Dang it. My phone is locked with that anti-texting gizmo so now I have to either skip the picture or lie and say I am not driving.
  • Technically, I am not “driving” because I am stopped at the light.
  •  What if the guy driving sees me take a pic of the back of his truck?
  • What if the car next to me is a policeman and he sees me pull my phone up?
  • What if I have an accident down the road and they see I have unlocked my anti-texting?
  • Why am I always such a pessimistic person and prone to scenarios that involve me getting a ticket of some kind?

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And all of that little hurricane of what if’s and self-analysis gave me such an adrenaline rush, my heart rate increased significantly and my stress level was off the charts…

 and FYI…I did not unlock my phone. 

But the whole thing provided me that moment of pause that I needed to observe how my mind has become programmed to think differently about how I connect with other people that can lead me into unhealthy spiritual and mental habits.

Before cell phones, I would have seen the bumper sticker…smiled to myself…perhaps thought how indeed there is someone in Texas who loves me and that someone is someone I love very much. 

I would probably have said a little prayer over that son of ours and thanked God for the years of his life and how much he means to us.

I wouldn’t have thought to record the moment with a picture and then share it with him or the family or for sure an unknown audience of potentially a couple hundred “friends” on Facebook. 

And this makes me aware that our private moments and thoughts, our most cherished times with family and friends, our moods and our opinions…are traveling along some riverbanks of culture and opportunity that have taken a new twist. 

It is not wrong to do this, necessarily. But it is increasingly difficult to carve out spaces of sacred silence and to set boundaries for soul health in our relationship with the Lord and with family, friends and our spheres of influence. 

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So I urge you today to take time to be set apart in the Presence of the Lord.

Meditate on His Word and pray to Him without feeling pressure to share every moment with the world. 

Be present in the moments with your people and honor those moments with an undivided mind and heart. 

You have the right to prayerfully consider what is just for you and what is for the pouring out onto others. 

We don’t always get that right and there are times we would like to take it back.

 However; I believe as we discipline ourselves to step away from the madness of the overload of communication available to us in 2018, we can begin to feel the health of solid boundaries returning, even as we are obedient to share our hearts transparently when called to do so.

Blessings on each of you today <3

Happy Friday … you are loved.

 

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2 Comments

  1. I’m so happy someone else can bullet point the frantic thoughts that go on in their mind the way I can and do! You make me laugh!

    1. It’s truly alarming to me sometimes the way my mind can fly off into a dark abyss on the tiniest little spark of imagination. =0)

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