till the sun turns black

Ray LaMontagne is the way to go on a crisp morning with friends in North Carolina.
The beauty of this day in the hills of Brasstown on Bidstrup Acres is unexplainable. The mountains in the distance, over the treetops, past the river down below makes for a peaceful sound of rushing water as the window is cranked open. Love it. Love these ladies I'm getting to spend this weekend with. And love the Lord for what this moment is. A time of rest, separation from what we know, and acceptance of each other like you wouldn't believe in a group of five very different people coming together for just a couple common denominators. Our job that collaborates our love for the outdoors in different ways and our love for God as we continually seek communion with God and each other.
Shanti - Peace in Sanskrit What we have been given the opportunity to embrace this weekend.

right this instant!

That's it - the old line I remember from childhood - "Kelli, (insert command here) right this instant!"

It incapsulates the importance of it all. Right this instant, is the instant we should be thinking about. It is this instant that matters most and is the only one that we are totally certain that we have been given.

I'm not sure how many times I think about this blog and decide I'll get to it later. That I will save my musings for another day. That I will skip updating the world wide web on the goings on in my head from day to day and let it rest for tomorrow.

I am excited right now for what is today, for what is tomorrow, and most uncertainly for what is the future. It's odd to me that at the same time that I get convicted and gung-ho about focusing on today and putting my energies into the here and how I also get so stoked about tomorrow and the future that is so incredibly unknown to me. (So that sentence wasn't diagram-able, but I'll keep it anyway) I look at my list of things to do for class and yes, I want to complete those assignments and learn as much as possible, but I can't help but think to myself how much more rewarding and worthwhile it would be to write a little ditty on this blog, or call a friend I haven't talked to in a while, or a number of things that don't involve getting a good grade. I want to graduate and finish strong this semester, but it's quite the oxymoron being a senior in my last semester at college... Think about it - you have a final semester to take the classes necessary for you to graduate and gain the degree you've poured yourself into for the past few years, but at the same time this is the last stent of time that you will live in a confined community with your closest friends just a stone's throw away and the ability and energy to conquer the world at a moment's notice. How do they really expect you to focus on schoolwork? Really?

So right this instant, make haste, rejoice for we have been given this moment! This moment that will be filled with whatever we open the lid and let it be filled with. How exciting!?

I praise the Lord for these realizations and these times of rejuvenation of heart. I'm not sure what it was I was looking for, but at that point was exactly the time that God swept a breath of "right this instant" over my face, demanding my full attention and life. If I only have this moment, and there is always the opportunity to be a more loving person - I hope that every day I can recognize those moments that make it so easy not to be that person and I can be reminded of the charge to make haste.