Just For Now

Emily P. Freeman recently shared on Instagram that she is “back to the habit of reading one chapter a day…for now.”

I stopped and thought about that for a bit. Two little words tacked on, but they make all the difference.

“For now.”

Big commitments feel harder than normal right now, because there is so much uncertainty. But we could commit to some things “for now”.

And hard things become more bearable if we tack on a “for now”. Life during a pandemic feels tough, because things are just heavy…for now.

It’s a simple little reminder that although we are going through something that’s hard, or stressful, or sad, it won’t be this way forever.

Or it’s a way of offering ourselves grace to change our minds if we realize that things need to change in order to be sustainable – we’re only doing it for now. Later on, things might look different, so we will leave room for course corrections.

I’m not saying our word shouldn’t stand for anything anymore, but I am saying that in these strange times, maybe we need a bit more grace than what we’ve offered ourselves in the past.

I tried it out a few different ways today, and it felt really good:

I’ve been dealing with adrenal fatigue for a few months, and I don’t have my usual amount of energy…for now.

I’ve had to give up strenuous exercise (Farewell, my beautiful 8 minute plank that took years and years of work to accomplish!!!😭), so I’m taking things slower…for now.

Because my health has to be a priority, our house can get messier than I’d like it to be….for now.

But there are new things coming in the future. I will have more energy again at some point, but for now, I don’t need to worry about all the things I can’t do.

The days are getting shorter, and things may feel a bit dark and dreary…for now.

Everyone is tired of masks, social distancing, and all the stress. We feel like everything is just hard and heavy and weird…for now. But it will change.

For anyone who is feeling bogged down, let’s remember – it’s just for now.

For anyone who feels unsure about how consistent we can be about anything this winter, maybe it’s easier to determine what we can manage just for now.

I like to play around with words – sometimes a new way of wording things can change it up just enough to give a fresh burst of insight, enthusiasm, energy, or creativity. For now.🙂

Is there anything in your life that needs a little shift in time frame perspective? What are you dealing with, for now?

When I Feel Too Busy for Morning Devotions

A couple of years ago, before Everett entered our family, before pregnancy and morning sickness, I would get up an hour before my family to do devotions and exercise. Those were really amazing mornings. I loved the quiet, I loved getting myself in the right place to start the day well.

And then I suddenly found myself back in the chaos of nausea, sleep deprivation, and then the busyness of having a newborn baby. Morning devotions quickly ended, and it’s only recently that I’ve started waking up before Everett to have a few minutes by myself in the morning once more.

Through all of the busy months, I’ve kept hanging on to is this: God can get a lot done in a short amount of time.

I loved the days of leisurely reading my Bible, and at first, I felt really guilty when that wasn’t happening anymore. But I also knew I desperately needed sleep. (My family desperately needed me to sleep!) When I didn’t have the energy to wake up early, and Everett was waking up at 6:30 every morning, there was no way I was setting my alarm for 6am.

So I did what I could – I’d snatch a few minutes to read a verse or two, or I’d lock myself in the bathroom to spend a few moments praying and focusing on Jesus to get my mind in the right place to start the day. I did my devotions every evening before I went to bed, but with time, I noticed how important it was to get even a little bit of time in the morning.

I’ve listened to other busy, tired moms talk about how impossible it feels to get up early for devotions, and I feel their pain. For those who are able to, that’s awesome, but for those who feel they just can’t during this phase of life, and to anyone else who feels as though they just can’t fit in one more thing to their busy mornings, I want to say: Do what you can.

I try to keep reminding myself, if I can squeeze in a few minutes here or there for Facebook or Pinterest, or any other distraction, I can just as easily read over a couple of verses. Just a little bit in the morning or throughout the day can change the direction of my thoughts.

This morning, I had a few minutes to myself before Everett woke up, so I grabbed my Bible and started reading Ephesians. I only read the first two verses before I got hit right where it was needed:

I, Paul, am under God’s plan as an apostle, a special agent of Christ Jesus, writing to you faithful believers in Ephesus. I greet you with the grace and peace poured into our lives by God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace poured into our lives…We’ve been lacking some peace around here, and I have not been responding with a lot of grace. I got on my knees, cleaned out a bunch of junk in my heart, and asked God to keep pouring that grace and peace into me until it overflowed. For the rest of the day, I kept returning to those simple words, trying to keep them in my mind and heart in the midst of the busyness.

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I still look forward to the days when I will once again have an hour of time to myself each morning, but in the meantime, I want to become more intentional about giving Jesus the time I do have, and trusting Him to multiply it.