day 285: "Living My Future"

We just returned from nearly three weeks of vacation in Africa. It was a remarkable trip in so many ways. Whenever given the chance to see and experience a part of the world that is 180 degrees different in perspective than what you live daily, it becomes more than eye-opening. The difference in the work and lifestyle of people is also stark. While I write daily on the obstacles that we face in our work, we should be reminded that there are still many people in the world who's work is to daily acquire the resources to be able to subsist for that day. It is hard to fathom until you see the women who spend five to six hours a day gathering and carrying enough firewood or water for the day at hand. Men who live from the river or the bush months at a time to acquire enough fish or money to return home for a few days to be with their family and hand-off their carry, before they head out again. There is a certain living in the present that is unique and from what I learned with the people who I was able to interact, this living and working in the moment is not at all consuming or frustrating. It is just the way it is. I think about the times that each of us lose sleep worrying and have anxiety about our future or the decision that needs to be made about the next job or relocation. It seems to me from what I saw in Africa that these are not thoughts that are indigenous to the human experience. These are anxieties and worries that we create on ourselves. There are no ads for anti-depressants or mood-elevating pills in Africa. A man named, Lazaro, one of our safari guides, who also was a minister in his local village church (400 people and growing) told me that he not only loves his job, but that he was born to do what he does and he is "living his future". He has found the way to pull the future to the present and live in the moment. God tells us to do the same thing when in Matthew 6:34 He says, "don't worry about tomorrow...". God would not tell us this if He wasn't going to provide for each of us and that He knows that like the Africans that I met, that today is enough for today and that tomorrow will take care of itself. Are you living your future today? Today, would be a good day to see if you can remove the worries of tomorrow and focus in on the blessings and the moments of today. Give thanks for those moments and give thanks for having a great today to experience.

Reference: Matthew 6:34 (New Living Testament)