It took me time to get here to the present.

A principle I have been implementing in my life is to focus on the present and live in it.

It is amazing what a challenge this has been for me! I plan and I reminisce. But I have discovered even looking back on past memories isn't always exciting. In some of those memories, I wasn't fully present either. I was looking to the future or the past.

I have been challenging myself in little ways. For example, one day I made popcorn for "my boys". Instead of me scolding them to eat it nicely straight out of the bowl. We threw it up in the air and attempted to catch it with our mouths. Then we put it on the table and made it stick to our tongue like a frog would pick of a fly. Even though it was a little messy to clean up, it was a fun memory we will always have and I was fully present for it.

I have even been trying to live in the present on the challenging days. For example, on Monday I was on the go from 8AM and didn't arrive back at home until 7AM Tuesday morning. It was a tough day but I had to stop and thank the Lord for the opportunity to have a job, school and have friends and family that supported me.

More than that, I have been learning to live in the present with the Lord. This, has been the greatest challenge of all. I have an ideal I want to see my relationship with the Lord at. To be honest, I have been struggling in my trust with the Lord and have been working through learning what trust looks like and how to get it. This is so very hard! I want to "arrive". But, I have been learning the only way to gain trust is to be communicating with the Lord continually. The more I interact with Him, the more I can see how worthy of trust He is. I can know all the Bible verses about His character but it takes the interaction to truly "know" Him.

"Now I believe in something it’s been a long time coming
It may not mean that much to you but it means all the world to me
I’m belonging somewhere it took me time to get here"-Kendall Payne