June 28th - Relationships are found in the present

The story...

Freddy Fender's song "Wasted days and wasted nights" describes a man who's blue due to the choices of the girl which are beyond his control and influence.  He seems camped in his memories where he hoped that things would've been different - if only... then he'd be "all set."  He seems stuck in the past and wasting his present reality.

I wish that I could take back the wasted days and wasted nights of trying to relive the past.  Strangely, my imagined perspective of my past is likely far different from the actual perspectives of those who shared it with me.  To compound the problem further, those who shared your past were likely focused on themselves, only perceived a small part of what was going on, and now likely can't recall anything about those days that were not so important to them.  Are they important to your current reality?

For my momma's birthday present, I loaded up an electronic photo frame with pictures from my mother's past.  It actually creeped me out as I left it on our dining room table prior to giving it to her.  She seemed to have a similar reaction to it too.  Reality, in the present, is the best place to be - that's where your relationships are.  And, the present is where you meet with God too.

The only church in town will work out their faith in the present.  They'll enjoy the presence of God and their savior the Lord Jesus the Christ. 

Just for today...

"I spent most of my life having expectations of , and making unrealistic demands on, everyone around me . . . the person I was hardest on was myself . . . Members encouraged me to eliminate 'have-tos' and 'shoulds' and to slow down so that I could consciously choose which changes felt right to me."  Hope for Today (p. 180)

"My life is too important to be wasted waiting for someone else's choices, even when it's someone I dearly love."  Courage to Change (p. 180)

"How happy and useful I could be if I weren't carrying around such a load of unpleasant emotional turmoil.  No one asks me to, so why do I?"  One Day at a Time (p. 180)