Living in the Moment

Our year on the prairies is quickly coming to an end. Friends we meet are starting to ask, “How much longer are you here?  When do you return to Europe?” Our answer is a reminder to us of how little time is left.

When I take time to reflect on this year of life on the prairies, these are some phrases that come to mind:

Lots of travels, busy, new opportunities, the coldest winter in 120 years, lots of new friends, a long winter, Mennonite and Canadian heritage, enjoying my kids, Canadian generosity, a growing burden for those in need, no spring, not enough time to spend time with every one…

If I had to tell you what my favorite moments were, moments that made my heart and soul glad, it would definitely not be the times I finished my to-do lists, or rushed from one “important” meeting or event to another, or even days I felt that I accomplished a lot.  It would clearly be the time and space I took to “be” and live in the moment, the moments I took “breathing in” what I was doing, taking in what was around me, and the people I was with.

Moments such as the following:

Just this morning….  sitting in my “princess chair”, before everyone else is up, starting my day off with my Heavenly Father, taking in the unconditional love He continually pours out on my life. Bowing and submitting to His purpose and His plan, which might seem like a bumpy road, but knowing that He is right there on the road with me.

Making scones with my friend Valrae for our open house

Special friends: usually it is just “being with them”. Baking, planting, painting, crocheting, singing, running, celebrating, eating, singing, planning, strategizing, dreaming…. I have been amazed this year at how much I have been blessed with good friends …friends with whom I can just be myself.

Times like yesterday at the Open House we had here in Steinbach, listening to my husband, this man I love, share his passion and burden for the far too many 
marginalized and desperate children in the world and the role we can play to help make a difference.

Our crazy teenager!

Lots of evenings spent with our teenager Alex, talking, listening, encouraging as he navigates his way through transitions with lots of life questions, or watching him perform one of his dances and seeing his face light up with joy.

Digging my fingers and feet in this rich Canadian soil while planting flowers and tomato plants….

I wonder how many of these moments I miss … how many you miss. They are there all around us, waiting to be “breathed in”, to be noticed.  

It is those moments that we live life at its fullest, that we give meaning to the person we are made to be, that we connect with ourselves, others, and our Maker. I don’t want to miss those moments. 

Maybe it is the width and vastness of the prairie skies, that pulls me in to want to stop and look for the little things, the beauty in the here and now, the moments that might tend to get lost in the never ending horizon of the prairies…