If you’re a world racer reading this, you would definitely know the phrase “choosing in”. If you’re not a racer, choosing in is a phrase continually used on the field. It pretty much means leaning into what’s in front of you and choosing to have open hands to what the Lord has for you in that moment. I have wanted to write a blog about growing where your feet are for a very long time, so here we are finally typing it all out.
Discontentment is knocking at every corner. We start one thing and before we know it we want to move onto the next thing. Things get hard, boring, and uncomfortable and we think it’s not for us anymore. We get tired of school and it’s time for something else. We get bored of our job, it’s time for another one. We get married and we’re instantly being asked when the kids are coming. We’ve been working for a while so it’s time to count down the years till retirement. We’re constantly jumping from one thing to the next because we’ve slowly forgotten how to grow amidst the not so exciting, challenging circumstances. It’s actually a very exhausting way to live. Nothing ever satisfies or brings joy. I’m sure pretty much every one reading this has been in this place at least once in their life.
Choosing in is a form of gratitude. It’s expectation for whats to come but still being excited for whats right in front of you. It’s a decision.
Lately I found myself solely thinking about the next thing. I was just coasting along, ready for whats next. Our next country, the country after that, what I’ll do after the race, next week, tomorrow even. Anything but right now, because right now is uncomfortable am I right??
So let’s choose in together. Let’s make the decision to stop coasting, to realize that each day matters.
That ministry that feels kind of pointless may not be where we’ll be forever, but it’s where we are today and that matters. That job that we for sure don’t want to do for the rest of our lives is where the Lord placed us today and that matters. That boring mundane day of school when all we’re doing is counting down the days till graduation is where we’re supposed to be in this day.
If it’s where the God of the universe has placed our feet in that moment…it matters a lot.
Bye for now,
MG
I love it MG. I have heard it called “Lean In” before. Enjoy where you are. You have time to be someplace else later.
Love,
Mama Katie
I feel this so deeply. I’m choosing in as I focus on being fully present in each moment. I love looking at it as a form of gratitude. I’m so grateful to choose in. I love you sweet girl.
“Choosing in is a form of gratitude.”
YEAH THATS GOOD. Proud of you for not missing the heaven hiding in the ‘mundane.’
(ps still want to find a different phrase for “choosing in” hahahha let me know if you ever think of one!)
Mary Grace (and @ Kenzi Grace above),
I’ve long referred to it as embracing the day, the moment, the opportunity right now that the Lord has given. Same as choosing in or leaning it. Our lives are so full of distractions – some we make for ourselves, many that are just a part of the world we live in – that it takes intentionality to stop and take that deep breath, notice the moment, fully engage in where the Lord has right now – the people in front of us, the place where our feet are currently planted, the amazing beauty of the world God created. It takes intentionality to lock it all into our brains, recording the faithfulness and goodness of the Lord right now and not let life go so swiftly by that we’ve not embraced – taken hold of mentally – the abundant blessings of this one day. YES! Keep choosing in one day, one moment at a time. Thanks for the reminder.