Savor the moment
Enjoy the journey
Stop and smell the roses
These are simple phrases that are not always so simple to live out in our day-to-day lives.
I find myself in a season of constant change, transition and growth. From language school to West Africa to living stateside for a year of furlough to starting our second term in West Africa, we find ourselves just starting to feel settled when things change and transition comes.
Yet, we are trying to enjoy the sights, tastes and sounds around us while knowing we can’t get too attached because all things change every so often and we must go through the transition all over again.
The constant motion of our lives means looking ahead, thinking through, making plans, and continuously checking off to-do list boxes. It means being one step ahead of something you can’t really know, planning for things without all the details and making decisions based on incomplete information.
This overseas, transitional life is full of daily battles. Battles to stay on top of a plethora of tasks, places, people and situations. Battles to not tire of the process, stay resilient and find contentment in the crazy. Battles to keep going when we don’t even know where the path leads. Battles against the busy schedules and tight budgets and overwhelming phone call lists.
Battles of language, culture and constant learning. Battling disappointment and fear.
Life gets going and stopping to enjoy it isn’t always the easiest thing to do.
This is all part of our lives as women working and living overseas.
This new season of overseas living has been challenging and exhausting.
Savor the moment? Enjoy the journey?
I often don’t have time to see the roses let alone smell them!
Savoring does not come naturally to me. So many times, my brain is so full of things to do, places to go, events to plan, people to talk to, things to remember that I can’t even begin to stop, savor or enjoy.
Yet, beneath it all, there is a deep desire to enjoy, to take hold of this life and savor the moments of my days. I want to find joy and savor the sweetness of God’s amazing blessings and His beautiful creation.
I want to choose to savor and remember.
While praying about this post and contemplating how to put what I’m learning into words, I again turned to my dictionary for the word savor.
In the very last part of the definition it says, “to give oneself to the enjoyment of.”
To give oneself.
Savor and give. I love how that blends them together in a way that I can understand.
Savor means giving ourselves to the enjoyment of this moment, this season, this time.
To give ourselves over to smelling the roses, sipping the tea, chatting with a friend.
Allowing ourselves to find joy, feel joy and live joyously. To really, truly enjoy, engage, plug in, participate and make memories.
How is God helping me learn these truths?
1} Make time to savor. Make time to give yourself over to the things going on around you. Put time on the schedule to just savor your family, the restaurant, the park, a morning coffee time with a friend. Intentionally make time to savor and enjoy.
2} Take time to savor. Don’t just make time and then hurry it up to get to the next thing on your list. Slow down. Take the time you need to build memories. Breathe it in. Soak it up. Savor every bit of what you are experiencing.
3} Allow yourself to let go. Be able to let go of things that keep you from savoring the moment, the day, the event. Whether it is the distraction of your phone, the busyness of the field, outside demands or expectations, figure out how to let go of those things for a time so you can give yourself fully to savoring.
4} Allow yourself to savor even when you can’t let go. Let’s face it… we can’t always just let go and decide to take some time. The bigger challenge comes in learning to savor and enjoy even when life is busy, distracting and overwhelming. Learning to savor a chat with a friend or a good book or an afternoon latte while planning a move, working on a big project or filling out mountains of paperwork. Enjoying, giving ourselves in the midst is a daily decision to choose a lifestyle of savoring.
5} Think ahead. This isn’t an end of the day decision to enjoy what has already happened. Think ahead. Plan for savoring. Determine, purpose and intend to give yourself fully to the day, whatever the day might hold. Plan to savor, enjoy and engage. Each morning, remind yourself to be present for that day.
6} Don’t jump ahead. Don’t borrow from tomorrow. Savor today. Tell yourself daily to make time, take time and allow yourself to savor this moment without already living in the next.
When savoring doesn’t come naturally, putting these things into practice helps me savor and enjoy.
Finding joy and strength all along the way.
“Go and enjoy… for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
What do you do to savor the moment and enjoy the journey?
How is God helping you learn this lesson of savoring and enjoying?
If you post on social media, use the hashtag #getjoy to link up posts!
*originally published at Velvet Ashes
How to Return, Recover and Rebound