Month: December 2015

Be Present

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I’ve already heard of several people encouraging us to put our phones away this Christmas.  One guy I know has bought a standard ‘old’ phone with a pay as you go sim to make him contactable but still in the room so to speak.

It’s a pretty loud scream at the minute on social media (ironically where we write and share stuff like this).  The scream declaring us to live life, real life, but not through the screen of our devices.  We’ve all seen those hard hitting pics – the concert that you paid a fortune to be at but now film and view from your phone. The dinner you longed to have with friends you want to be closer to, but someone sits on their phone the entire time engaging with other ‘friends’, and the conversation is always surface because no-one is really fully engaged. I did see earlier this month an article from a wedding photographer begging guests to stop stepping into to the aisle to get a snap of the bride – the groom can’t see his princess walking towards him. The article had a photograph of a groom (a real life one, not a model) having to lean and stretch around guests all with phones and tablets out, trying to catch his bride and her walk up the aisle.

We all know it – and we’ve read about it. We are missing out on real life.

Perhaps the solution though is not complete abandonment of all technology.  It really can be useful – and like everything, in moderation can add to our lives.  The problem comes when it starts to take over.

It’s like any addiction – overuse can eventually become a habit.

We coined a phrase earlier this year.. It was a serious challenge about being present in all things. It also became the quick shout out when someone wasn’t fully engaging – we would shout “Be Present” as a brutal reminder to the person who had checked out that they had actually checked out of the room.

I met Danielle for the first time this summer.  I had known of her, but finally got to meet her. I loved her commitment to the idea. She got BE PRESENT tattooed on her wrist. Now if ever there’s a constant  reminder to set your phone down it had to be that right?

I texted her this week to see if she would write something about it and send me a pic.

Here are her thoughts

I had contemplated getting a tattoo for a long time but had the ultimate dilemma-what do I want to be branded with for the rest of my life? I had gone back and forth between different verses I loved but it seemed….forced (if you can say that about marking yourself with scripture 😉.

I went on a mission trip to Guatemala and while we were there Aaron Boyd was encouraging our group to be aware, to “be present” while interacting with the people we came in contact with. He said, “You never know when you’ll get the chance to hug that little child or smile at the woman selling coffee in the market or show Christ to someone walking on the street, so make the most of the time here.” I got to thinking about the impact of that statement, what would my life look like if I were to fully engage with it? What would happen if I disciplined myself to be present with my: thoughts, finances, time, people. This is exactly what Christ modeled; He was fully engaged with His Father and fully engaged with life. In every circumstance He was present, and lives were eternally changed because of it. This is is my constant reminder that I have one shot at life. One opportunity to make the most of this vapor. To be present.

I love this dedication.

I think the challenge is very real and I know there is cry in all of us that we really don’t want to miss the ‘real’ moments.

I have thought about banning technology on Christmas Day – there is a massive reality though that in doing that we would miss our chats across oceans, our face times with people who are like second family. Total abandonment isn’t practical,  but what we are talking about is engaging in the now – in the presence of people lets be fully present. When we lift our phones in the presence of people it gives them the message that we are not interested and cuts them out of what we are doing in that moment. It creates a disconnect.

Perhaps screaming “be present” as funny as it was, genuinely brings people back in the room. I know when I was the guilty party, I genuinely hadn’t even realised and it was a reality slap in the face.

Have you checked what your phone usage is? You can find it on an iPhone in battery settings. The clock symbol to the right side will show it in real time. Perhaps it’s a horrific reality of how much time you spend on what apps but it is certainly eye opening. Go check it now – and take note. What are you wasting your minutes on? Can you change it? Should you change it? Do you need to think about deleting some apps that are stealing reality minutes?

At a mums and tots group earlier this month I got to share a little about christmas. I feel it’s taken me 10 years to do Christmas Day well. It really can be a manic day if we let it take control – but if we grab the reins and remember what it’s all about it can be fabulous. I now have some personal rules for Christmas Day.

  1. I will not clean and tidy.
  2. I will not stress at the mess.
  3. I will not be stuck in the kitchen
  4. I will play with the kids and their toys
  5. I will be fully present

This is a day to be enjoyed fully.

For most of this to happen, I need to be fully prepared. Last year we hit a sweet spot. Everything was completed on Christmas Eve in terms of food and table. It was incredible and I felt like Wonder Woman.  I can’t tell you what a relief that brought to me – I spent Christmas Day playing not cooking, and my kids loved it.  I did not care about the state of our house at that moment. I think it may have been their best present from us – that we were present.

So that’s my challenge, whether it’s setting a phone or a pot down. Just do it. Be present. Be THE present. Life is for living and as Aaron keeps reminding me it’s not the warm up. Don’t miss it, it goes too fast.

The people around you will love it.

Let me leave you with the tear jerker IKEA Christmas advert to really hit it home.

IKEA Christmas ad 2015

Have a wonderful Christmas and remember to BE PRESENT.

Word made flesh..

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Christmas is just simply wonderful.

The message of Christmas is even more wonderful.  From the breaking of a silence, the end of a long wait, to the arrival of a promise.  There are so many elements in the Christmas story that get me so excited. The first announcement from heaven is brilliant and ignites the birth of not only a new person but a new way.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Heaven is speaking loud and clear – there is fresh hope with this announcement especially after 400 years of silence.

Change is in the air. God is promising peace with Him – and we find out later in the script that peace isn’t a state but a person called Jesus. His very name is to save us, Immanuel declaring that God is with us.

Mary has always been the person and storyline I find the most fascinating in the Christmas story.  “Let it be onto me according to your word” has to be the most incredible faith filled words uttered in this scenario.  To simply believe God at His word. I don’t know about you, but I have lots to learn from her childlike faith.

John 1 is that great message that talks about Jesus being the word of God, there at the beginning. His arrival on earth is the simplicity of word being made flesh, a concept becoming a reality, something heavenly becoming something earthly.

Even in that I see the beauty of heaven coming to earth – but where does that start – a word.

My church have been running a series called Hope Awakens this month. I got the privilege of sharing some thoughts with our older teens last week on the whole idea of hope being revelaed.

The basis of what I shared was simply that hope was revealed firstly in a word. A promise was given,  and when there is a promise then there is hope.

I read Kris Vallotton’s blog a few weeks back and was struck by what he said:

Without hope, you can’t have faith……

I’ve really been thinking a lot about the apparent link between a word, a promise, the hope that brings and the faith to see it. This is how heaven comes to earth.

The good old carol Oh Come All Ye Faithful that I have sang for years sealed the message for Christmas again this year “Word of the father, now in flesh appearing”. What a line – that I had not really noticed until Sunday.

That’s the message of Christmas. The word becoming flesh.

I guess it’s the cry and hopeful longing of all of our hearts surely? That we would see in the flesh the word of God come.

I don’t know what you are longing for this Christmas.  Is there a promise that you are waiting on? Is there a hope that your situation could be different? Sometimes I feel like an expert in waiting. I’ve had every emotion imaginable in the waiting. I’m not even going to pretend to know or answer why some of us don’t see the things we feel we’ve been promised. The one thing I’m absolutely certain of is, that He is good, He is faithful, and His promises are always true, even if it doesn’t look like what we thought it would we have to trust his working is only for our good.

All of our hope begins with simply a word. What does HE say about what you’re walking through? That’s the word that matters the most, that’s the word that can change everything.

This is the beginning of hope this is where hope awakens. That we get to know a word, and that word can become reality.

WORD OF THE FATHER, NOW IN FLESH APPEARING

Let’s dare to believe and be confident that we will see His goodness in the land of the living.