Do you ever find yourself totally focused one moment, then off doing some random task the next moment?
This happens to me more than I care to admit.
So, this fall, I made "staying focused" my new goal.
But, alas, I have skipped right off of this new path a few times while I'm learning.
Unfortunately, I learn best from my mistakes.
Just a few weeks after starting my new resolution, while I was attentively listening to a conference call in the Bluetooth in my ear, I somehow found myself in my kitchen, still listening but looking for something to make my coffee taste a little more exciting.
Every Wednesday morning I have a call with people who run different local ministries throughout my city and state.
For one hour each week, current and retired doctors, business professionals, educators and more, gather by phone to give an update on their particular organization and to pray.
And boy! Can these people pray!
On this call, I particularly love listening to Dr. David, a retired doctor who is originally from India. He is so full of love for God and love for people. Plus, there is something about his accent that makes him sound even wiser.
The morning I was distracted by my coffee, we were about 45 minutes into our call when I got up from the couch to look for a solution to the boring coffee dilemma. I unknowingly left my phone behind because my Bluetooth was in my ear. I tend to mute and un-mute the speaker several times throughout the call depending on what is going on around me and if I want to speak. I didn't really pay attention to the mute button when I got up and headed toward the kitchen.
When I opened the refrigerator, I saw a few flavored creamers before I noticed some thing in the back of a door shelf, near the ketchup. It was a plastic bottle of Hershey's syrup. Yum! I didn't even know we had that. I could turn my coffee into a mocha.
I was so delighted with the thought of my delicious drink, I'm not even sure if I was listening to the call going on in my ear.
Then it happened!!!!
I flipped open the lid, turned over the bottle to squeeze the chocolate into my drink and
completely froze....
panicked....
ran scenarios quickly through my mind of how to handle my situation.
THE SYRUP BOTTLE WAS ALMOST EMPTY. So, when I squeezed it, it made a horrible sound. A little syrup came out, but there was the loud noise of a lot of air being pushed through the little hole in the lid.
Noooooo!
Was my phone on mute?
Would anyone know that noise came from my phone?
Should I blame the dog? Try to explain?
Sneak off the call, never to be heard from again?
I froze, literally holding the bottle in place, not knowing what to do.
Did the person who was praying pause longer than usual?
Did everyone just hear that noise?!!!
I touched every pocket on my clothing looking for my phone.
I tiptoed into the other room to get it. (I don't know why I tiptoed, but I did).
"Oh Please, Lord. Let my phone be on mute!"...... "Please!!!!"
This was my silent prayer that day.
Compared to the "big things" we pray about on this call, my silent plea to God may not seem important. But at that moment, it was important to me.
As I was creeping back to the couch, I remembered my new goal and wished I had caught myself getting distracted just a few minutes earlier.
Friend - You and I were created for a purpose. We may get to do a lot of different things a long our journeys. But, when we are given a task, a call, or a mission, it is best to always keep that in our line of sight when we are deciding what to do. It is just as easy to get distracted by good things (like chocolate syrup), as it is by negative things.
My prayer for us today is that
- our hearts and minds are attuned to the voice of God
AND
- we will stay focused on the good things He has called us to do.
Hopefully, we can both learn from the lesson of the chocolate syrup.
Never Forget the Truth ...
God created you for a purpose to do good things which he prepared for you in advance.
So what happened?????
Thankfully, my phone was on mute.
So, why are my friends disappointed by that?
