Lisa notes

“The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment.”
– Eckhart Tolle

N—Now

Right now, what are you thinking?

Is it something from yesterday or the past? Or is it about tomorrow and the future?

Most of us have a time orientation. We can fall into one of three main categories:

• past-oriented,
• present-oriented, or
• future-oriented (that’s me and much of America).

Our orientation toward time drastically affects where our thoughts linger. [Read The Time Paradox for fascinating information on this. Quotes and my review here. Take the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory here to determine your own time type.]

As we age, our perspective of the speed of time also changes.  The older we get, the faster time flies, right?

But regardless of how we view time, the only moment we’re ever in is this one. This moment. Right now.

Every other moment in time is either already lived or can’t yet be reached.

Because this is the moment we’re in, this is the moment we encounter God the most vividly.

This very moment is where God is most at work in us, breathing, thinking, feeling.

Try This

Let go of past and future thoughts. Think only of this second.

• What sounds are you hearing?
• What sensations are in your body?
• What are you seeing, smelling, or tasting in this moment?

These are all things that God is hearing, sensing, seeing, smelling, and tasting with you.

Stay aware.

What is the one thing that God most wants you to do or be in this moment?

This is your moment of encounter.

Learn More

• 4 Lessons on Living in the Now
  How can we learn to live more in the now? Here are 4 lessons I learned last year about living in the “Now,” my One Word 2015.
• 5 Ways to Stay in the Now
  How to live more in the moment while still visiting the past and future. Quotes included from Eckhart Tolle’s, The Power of Now.
• God Is Present Now
  Includes quotes from Frank Laubach’s classic, Letters by a a Modern Mystic
• Time in Different Cultures
  A fascinating article on how a cultures’ values are often reflected in their tempo of life.

* * *

Do you think more about the past or the future? Or do you stay mainly in the present? Please share in the comments.

Coming up tomorrow:

• O – Oddities
  How can you find God in the odd things of your life?

If you’d like to receive 26 Surprising Ways by email, sign up here.

Where did you encounter God most strongly this week?

In our series this past week, we encountered God through these six exercises.

• Hearts
  Let God use heart shapes around you to remind you of his love for you.
• Intuition
  Have you ever known something in your gut without anyone telling you? Some things aren’t explicitly taught, yet God slips them inside us anyway.
• Jobs
  How meaningful is your work? Is there more ministry in your job than you realize?
• Kisses
  Our lips aren’t only for talking and eating. But also for loving. Use your kisses to connect the God-in-you to the God-in-the-other.
• Loneliness
  If you feel lonely, ask God where he wants you to go with it. Reach out to someone? Spend more time with him? Make peace with it?
• Mirrors
  When looking in a mirror discourages us with aging exteriors, let’s remind ourselves of ever-renewing interiors. God is in us. Nothing is more stunning.

Reflect today on the encounters you had.

Pray about how you’d like to encounter God more in this coming week. I’ll have suggestions ranging from N–Now to S–Storytelling.

* * *

Where or in whom did you see and touch God this past week? Please share in the comments.

Coming up:

• Monday–Saturday, Encountering God from N to S

If you’d like to receive 26 Surprising Ways by email, sign up here.

“You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you?”
The Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 3:16 (The Message)

M—Mirrors

I’m looking for a new hairstyle. I flip through pictures online of short cuts.

Then I look in the mirror.

I confess. It’s disappointing. Regardless of the hair, the face still shows up. The models in the photos look fabulous, young, flawless.

This face in the mirror? None of those things.

It’s time for a little self-preaching. . . .

Try This

When we get discouraged by aging exteriors, let’s remind ourselves of ever-renewing interiors.

• God is in us.
• God is in us.
• God is in us.

Can anything be more stunning than that? 

Look in a mirror now (or look at yourself through your phone’s camera). Say these words aloud to you and God,

“Lord, I know you’re in me. I’m grateful you live in me. You are beautiful in me.”

Learn More

• 8 Verses that Show Jesus Lives in You

• How Do Mirrors Work?

* * *

What do you see in your mirror? When you don’t like it, what do you tell yourself? Please share in the comments.

Coming up tomorrow:

• Week in Review
  Reflect back on H–M, ways we encountered God

If you’d like to receive 26 Surprising Ways by email, sign up here.

“Much of our loneliness stems not from an absence of voices around us, but from an absence of listening to the voices.”
– Tim Hansel

L—Loneliness

Unlike being alone (see A—Alone), loneliness can feel devastating. It’s a negative. Loneliness is uncomfortable.

But loneliness isn’t necessarily rooted in being by ourselves. It can also come from being involved in too many things.

Read this quote from Tim Hansel in Through the Wilderness of Loneliness.

“Loneliness does not always come from emptiness. Sometimes it is because we are too full…full of ourselves. Full of activity. Full of distractions. Paradoxically, if it want to heal the loneliness in my life, I’ve got to get away…to be alone with God.“

Try This

If you feel lonely today, ask God where he wants you to go with it.

• Is there someone he wants you to reach out to?
• Does he want you to spend more time with him?
• Can you make peace with loneliness until the season changes? (Sometimes a cure for loneliness is embracing the solitude.)

Also, when you are lonely, try listening more intently. More from Tim Hansel:

“It has been said that a bore is someone who talks when you want him to listen. When I heard that, it dawned on me that much of our loneliness stems not from an absence of voices around us, but from an absence of listening to the voices.

Listening and love are almost synonymous. One of the best ways to show God’s love is by listening. Yet we live in a world where all of us are trying to impress each other with the quality of our words.”

Learn More

• The Blessings of Loneliness by Sabrina Beasley
• If You Ever Feel Lonely, Read This by Lisa TerKeurst
• You’re Not Alone in the Loneliness by Kathy Escobar
• Valleys Fill First by Caedmon’s Call
  

* * *

When have you felt lonely? What’s been your longest stretch with loneliness? Please share in the comments.

Coming up tomorrow:

• M—Mirror
  God is in you. Do you see him?

If you’d like to receive 26 Surprising Ways by email, sign up here.

“A kiss is the heart’s autograph.”
– James Lendall Basford

K—Kisses

Who do you allow your lips to touch?

We’re quite picky about this. As we should be. Kisses are personal.

Physically, lips are some of the most sensitive areas on our bodies. Our brains work hard to interpret the messages it receives from the touch receptors in our lips.

But emotionally, our lips are also highly sensitive areas. Working up to a first kiss or kissing a newborn baby or kissing a spouse goodbye at the airport are highly emotionally charged moments.

How, then, can we use kissing as a way to encounter God?

Try This

Have you been kissed today? Is there someone today who wants your kiss?

Whether it’s a partner or child or friend, consciously be aware that who you kiss is another person made in the image of God. And that your kiss is a way to connect the God-in-you to the God-in-them.

Our lips weren’t made only for talking and eating. But also for loving. It doesn’t have to be a passionate, Hollywood-worthy kiss, but give away a kiss today to communicate, “I love you” to someone special in your life.

As you do so, thank God for the opportunity to get face to face with another of his beloved creations. And thus, face to face with him.

Learn More

• Are Lips the Most Sensitive Part of Your Body?
  When scientists list the top areas of the body in terms of sensitivity, the lips and fingertips are often ranked as the areas with the highest concentrations of receptor cells.
• Quotes Video About Kissing [g-rated]
  

* * *

Who is the last person you kissed? Please share in the comments.

Coming up tomorrow:

• L – Loneliness
  Where is God taking you with loneliness?

If you’d like to receive 26 Surprising Ways by email, sign up here.