A Healing Moment - Living Each Moment by Donna L. Watkins - The Herbs Place

Living Each Moment
by Donna L. Watkins

June marks the entrance to summer in my mind. School is out, children are playing everywhere and flowers are brightly bobbing their heads towards the sun. My favorite part of summer is when the sun is setting and you can open the doors and windows back up for the night.

When I was growing up in the 50’s we used to sit outside after dinner and talk to people who walked by, or just talk between ourselves. It was family time. I guess now it would be called “quality time.” Our only son is grown and lives half way across the country from us, so it’s just Randal and I out on our porch, but we’re in a community of many walkers, so the evenings we spend outside usually offer a nice visit with somebody.

If we have important things to discuss, we sit on the back porch and enjoy the woods. I love forests! There is no place that heals my soul quicker than to be in the middle of the woods. Living near the Blue Ridge Mountains, the views tell me that the world isn’t as crowded as it seems. Looking at the immenseness of Creation allows me to realize that my troubles are truly small.

I like this quote:
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.” — Dr. Bob Moorhead

It’s easy not to worry about the past or tomorrow when we get caught up in a moment that stands still in time. While we watch a sunset or a sunrise. When we sit by the ocean and see the waves beat the shoreline and recede back out to sea with all of our troubles washed far away.

We have so many thoughts about our lives. I love to read over and over and over again, the words of Jesus to His disciples in Luke 12:22-32:

“And He said unto His disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body [is more] than raiment.

“Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?

“Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more [will He clothe] you, O ye of little faith?

“And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Here’s some comments from Gail Sheehy. We need to live the moment. We are too often living in the past or in the future with our thoughts and actions.

How much more meaningful life is when we can live in the moment of now!

Consider these comments by Gail Sheehy: “The spirit is an area of growth most of us set aside, half hoping the day will come when some soul-stretching peak experience will lift us out of our ordinary consciousness for a glimpse of the sacred and eternal. But we have to prepare our consciousness for taking such a path. We need to change the way we measure time and relax our insistence on control. Instead of focusing on the time running out, it should be a daily exercise….to mark the moment. The present never ages. Each moment is like a snowflake, unique, unspoiled, unrepeatable, and can be appreciated in its surprisingness.If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing.”

Remember the quote I mentioned above:
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.”

Take some time to schedule those breathless moments! Sunsets, oceans, forests … nature offers a lot of God in it. Share this world of wonders with your children – or find children that need somebody to show them the world that God created for them.

If you love nature, visit our other website, “The Nature In Us.” Let’s enjoy the wonder of nature together.