Okay, I’ll admit it. Sometimes I dream, and I’m not taking about the sleeping kind. I’m talking about daydreams. Mind wandering, head in the clouds kind of daydreams. Just ask my family how many meals I’ve burnt because my mind was elsewhere. As a writer of fiction, it goes with the territory, but it’s both a curse and a blessing. Watching a scene play out in my head and then recording it on paper is awesome. I make my living that way, and I’m grateful for it.
But sometimes that same tendency causes me to completely lose the moment I’m living in. I’m mulling the past or worrying about the future. Within a stubborn character’s head or working out a thorny plot.
I neglect to see what God is doing in my life right now. I forget to acknowledge all His goodness and blessings. So with that in mind, I came up with a couple of simple ways to just stop what I’m doing and say, “Thank you, God.”
I’ve heard of some people who use the sound of a bell as a reminder to bless God. I use a digital clock. Whenever the numbers coincide (5:55, 12:12), I take a moment to pray. To live in the moment. Stop and smell the roses. You’d be amazed how often I glance at the clock and find that reminder.
I also have this thing about hawks. They are such majestic birds. I get choked up just watching them catch the air. When I get super stressed, I invariably see a hawk—sometimes a whole family of them. It’s a great reminder for me to trust God in everything.
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
~~Matthew 6:26
Do you have any special reminders to bring you back to the present and prompt you to stop and consider your many blessings? If not, I challenge you to come up with something—a bell, a clock, a hawk. Stop, live in the moment, and thank God!
Deb Kastner writes for Harlequin Love Inspired. Her next release is Yuletide Baby in December.
~~Love Courageously~~ Publisher's Weekly Bestselling, award-winning author of 30 novels, Deb Kastner enjoys writing contemporary inspirational western stories set in small communities. She feels especially blessed to be able to include faith as a natural and genuine part of her characters' lives. Deb lives in beautiful Colorado with her husband and a pack of miscreant mutts. She is blessed with three adult daughters and two grandchildren. Her favorite hobby is spoiling her grandchildren, but she also enjoys reading, watching movies, listening to music (The Texas Tenors are her fav), singing in the church choir, and exploring the Rocky Mountains on horseback.
I don’t have anything to remind me to stop and Thank God each day but I will consider finding something. Nice article!