Wherever You Are...

     The pink Blackberry rang with its shrill sound and the manicured finger tapped the talk button then pressed the phone to her diamond studded ear.  This had to be the fifth phone call in the last half hour at the poolside.  Her children's wet faces scrunched slightly and disappointment seemed to spread over the sunshine on their faces.  Did this mother not see what she was missing?

     The laptop was open at the picnic table and the man typed furiously over the keys, while his wife and children played in the nearby grass with a checkered soccer ball.  "Watch this, Dad!"  And the younger boy, tousled brown hair half covering his eyes, kicked the ball as hard as he could.  "Good, son," was all that the dad offered, but because he failed to glance up, it stole the moment of joy from his sweet son.

     Jim Eliot once said, "Wherever you are, be all there..."  And while that is valuable advice to live by, what if our wherever is not the place that we should really be?

     I recently saw a flashy advertisement pop up on my computer screen that said this -- Buy ______ (this phone) and you can be all there in more than one place!  We all know that isn't possible, but we are part of a generation that is trying to live that way. 

     How do we pull away and KNOW where we are really supposed to be? 

     How do we discover what it is to disconnect from the urgent and connect with the important?

     How do recognize the immeasurable value that surrounds us and let go of the erroneous value that beckons us from beyond?

     Jesus walked on this earth two-thousand years ago and although He didn't have telephones, websites and Facebook, He did have people begging for His every moment.  Sick men, blind men and crippled men called for Him to come to them.  Bleeding women, sinful women and lonely women desperately searched after Him. 

     Jesus knew what it was to be pulled in many directions.

     When we read in the Bible about Jesus giving sight to the blind, healing the sick and forgiving the sinners -- it seems He was very present in the moment.  Wherever Jesus found Himself, He focused on that moment.  On those that were around Him.

     Is that the secret? 

     If we find ourselves home with our four year old, can we be present with them?  Yes, there is laundry to do, but they could sort whites and darks with us while we listen to the most recent knock-knock joke.

     If we are home with our eight year old, can we connect there too?  Yes, there may be supper to make, but they could peel the carrots and share in the happy chatter of the day. 

     And our teenager, even them?  Absolutely, but we may need to pause from what we "need" to do in order to enter their world.  There are moments to share and conversations to savour if we do.

     I have good news . . . there is a second half of Jim Eliot's quote that will help us finish the puzzle . . . when he said, "Wherever you are, be all there," he finished it by saying, "Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God."

     If we have been given the gift of parenting, then we too MUST find the way to LIVE TO THE HILT and be ALL THERE! 

     Not that we can't take moments for ourselves -- we need that too, but in our heart of hearts we know the difference.  We can take or make the phone calls that need to be done, but we don't stay on the phone all day.  We can enjoy the new email from a friend but keep the response short.  We can plan time to peruse what is important to us on the internet but we don't stay on past what we planned.  All these, and so many more, are just responsible ways of bringing balance to our lives, in order that we can be ALL THERE in the places where God has placed us!

"Show me your ways, O Lord,

teach me your paths;

guide me in your truth and 

teach me, for you are my God

my Saviour, and my hope is in you."

Psalm 25:4 & 5