I had the opportunity to attend a church leadership retreat yesterday. As part of the kickoff, the youth team showed a video of photos from their recent trip to Fondwa Haiti. It really brought back memories for me. Seeing familiar places and faces from my trip in those photos. The youth leader ended this portion of the retreat challenging us to avoid getting caught up in the "doing" of life and be more caught up in being present in life. My time in Haiti last year provided me that opportunity. I wasn't so concerned with doing and was able to really focus on the moment and the experience.
I think that is a good challenge for us in everyday life. Not necessarily when we go on a mission trip or on some service focused event. But, how can we be present in all that we do throughout life?
This is the one year anniversary for my trip to Haiti. That trip took the conceptual idea of adoption and turned it into a reality for me. Coming home from the trip a year ago, I became convinced that adoption was the right thing for our family.
As we go through the adoption process, it can become very easy to focus on and get caught up in the doing. As an example, our main focus right now is getting all the paperwork together for our Dossier. What an example of "doing". There is even a checklist list for us to mark off what is done.
I need to pause and shift my focus away from the doing, away from the checklist and move it to the process and all that we are learning and gaining from it. Now doing is a necessary part of life. Checklists aren't bad things. We need to do to generate money for the household, keep that house clean and educate our kids. All necessary and important things.
But, wouldn't life be so much better if the focus was on being present with those around us? Something that I certainly need to remember in my life.
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