Nicole’s e-Pistle “Being Present”

April 15, 2026

Greetings, Friends!

It has been good to get back into a routine after my week of vacation last week. We had a lot of fun together as a family and traveled all over North Georgia and Tennessee. It reminded me the importance of being present. We all know that life can get hectic at times, especially when you either have children at home and are juggling home and work life, or when you are retired and find yourself busier than ever! It is important to take time for vacations and rest, but being present in those moments takes an extra amount of intentionality.

I am sure I have mentioned a favorite cartoon of ours called “Bluey.” If you are unfamiliar with the show, it probably means you have not spent much time lately with toddlers or young children. In our house, it continues to be a staple. It is set in Australia and features a family of Blue and Red Healers (all of the talking characters are various breeds of dogs). Mum and Dad spend lots of time playing with their six-year-old daughter Bluey and their four-year-old daughter Bingo. Each episode is only seven minutes long – perfect for short attention spans – and for years, we measured time by how many Bluey episodes it would take to do something. (I think we estimated it would take more than 85 episodes to get to Central Florida!)

In one particular episode, the Healer family has gone on “holiday” to the beach. Mum, especially, is hyper focused on finding time to relax. She has brought all the necessary equipment – a chair, umbrella, shades, and a good book. As soon as they get checked into their hotel, she is almost like a drill sergeant trying to get everyone to unpack and get ready to relax at the beach. Meanwhile, the two girls have become fascinated with the accommodations, namely the tape on every toilet and the jets in the bathtub. When Mum finishes her many tasks and takes notice, the girls are having a bath, complete with jet-propelled bubbles! They’re squealing and laughing and having a grand ole time! Exasperated, she turns to Dad, who suggests she go on ahead and have time to relax at the beach. They’ll catch up to her shortly.

Mum heads out, sets up all her things, and sits down, repeating her mantra to herself, “Time to relax.” Yet, she cannot get her mind to slow down. She struggles to be in the moment. She cannot focus on her book, and in trying to force herself to relax, she is anything but. Finally, defeated, she returns to the hotel suite, where the girls have taken to playing some new game they invented. She confesses to her husband that she doesn’t know how to relax. He refers her to the girls, shifts her focus to them playing together, and she realizes they don’t have a plan. They are just in the moment, utterly invested in the here and now.

Behavioral scientists have done plenty of studies about how much people agonize over the past and worry about the future. If we pay attention, I would imagine we spend most of our time thinking about what’s next or what was left undone yesterday. Being with the kids last week was a lesson for me in the importance of the present, and it occurs to me that the present is the only place we can encounter God. God transcends time, so it is true that we imagine He is already there with us in the future, and we of course know that He has been active throughout history, but it is in this exact moment when we can connect with Him directly and feel His presence. Take some time today to set aside your plans and worries and forced attempts to relax. Practice letting go and just experiencing God in whatever happens to be going on around you. Maybe some birds have formed a nest nearby and you can hear the little ones calling out for lunch. Maybe the sun is shining through the branches of a tree, causing the leaves to flicker in twenty different shades of green. Maybe you have some knitting needles and yarn and are sharing in God’s creation by making something beautifully unique.

Whatever you find yourself doing today, take time to be fully present with the God who created you and loves you beyond measure!

Blessings and peace, my friends!