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Ruth Everhart

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The Perils of Living in the Future

July 29, 2008 By Ruth Everhart 1 Comment

Since I’m a planner, by nature, I have a tendency to live in the future just a bit. ?For instance, right now, I am waiting for these things to come to pass:

— our 24th wedding anniversary celebration (in 6 days)

— my cat’s ear infection to heal

— our younger daughter to come home from Shakespeare Camp

— our older daughter to finish summer term and take a much-deserved vacation

— both daughters to go away to separate colleges

— a publishing house (Zondervans) to respond to a novel ms. submission they’ve had for 3 months

— two publishing houses (Upper Room & Eerdmanns) to respond to a non-fiction ms. submission they’ve had for 2+ months

As a minister, I’m waiting for these things to come to pass:

— the completed demolition of one of our church buildings

— our budget to “normalize” after it’s summer crazies

— a bequest check to refill the capital fund coffers

— leadership for our “Transformation” efforts to rise up and become obvious to me, by the power of the Holy Spirit

— the predictable fall transitions — Sunday School staffing, elder nominating

Nothing unusual. You could probably create a similar list. But it’s the “shadow list” items that are the real killers. ?Perhaps — without realizing it –I’m waiting for:

— my daughters to be “all grown up”

— the world to appreciate the fact that I’m a wonderful writer

— my marriage to show the “inevitable” signs of age

— my church to be “successful”

??

A week ago a good friend died unexpectedly, so this has come to pass: a moment to reflect on the fact that we don’t know how many moments we have.

Living in the future is unwise. Living in the future because it appears to be a bit more perfect than the present is perhaps unwisest of all.

Now I’m off to my cardio kickboxing class. ?At least there I can punch each moment as it passes.

Aging we can spend our lives living in the future instead of the present

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. pinkhammer says

    July 30, 2008 at 7:00 pm

    Hello Ruth 🙂 I am a planner too so I really resonnate with your list! I wish I could jut let go of the lists for a while and stop analyzing stuff. I wish I could just enjoy what is and let what will be just happen. I think this is part of what God is doing in my life right now. Oh to be free of the tangled web we weave!

    Reply

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