Stay Focused!

Stay focused! I was reminded again on Sunday of how important it is to stay focused on the present. You see, I was running Propresenter to advance the slides for the church service. I had made it through the Sunday morning practice, the first service and was toward the end of the second service. At the end of the song were two slides of the doxology. All I needed to do was hit the space bar to advance the slide just before the end of the first of those two slides to finish the song. BUT I lost my focus and missed hitting the space bar until the singing was already into the words on the second slide. ☹

Full disclosure: here is what was happening in my mind. In the past Dan would start singing the doxology whenever a major good thing happened in our lives. It was a signature thing of his and I would join in with him. When we got to that part my mind wandered to remembering Dan and I singing together and got lost in my thoughts – I was not focused on the present but in the past.

This got me thinking about what we do with our lives. We need to focus on the present in our lives. We cannot dwell on the past as that distracts us from the present and as in my illustration above can negatively affect others as well. I’m not saying we shouldn’t ever look back or remember – no, I’m just saying we need to be careful that we don’t stay there too long.

So, what about looking to the future? We need to plan – right? Yes, planning is good but again we cannot be so focused on the future that we lose track of the present and enjoying it. When running Propresenter for the church service we practice and I make notes so I am prepared for how long to leave a blank slide up for the instrumentals, when do I stay on a blank slide for announcements, when do I advance for the singers. BUT I cannot be focusing on that next song or I will miss what needs to be done on the current slide.

Enjoy your life right now; keep focusing on the present while remembering the past and looking forward to what God has planned for you!

G