Power in the Present

Living in ‘what is’ instead of ‘what if’

If you could set up a living space that met your needs today, what would the rooms look like?

I remember the excitement moving in and working with the furniture to make room for gatherings, sleep overs and dinner parties.

Two years later, I’m feeling disappointed that life hasn’t opened more opportunities for lovely faces to enjoy these beautiful spaces. I’m frustrated when I sit in my ‘family’ room without a family. My soul is sad the gift of a guest room feels wasted.foundation, cracked foundation, today, tomorrow, trishakeehn.com, dreams

I wrestle with what is because I’ve been living in what if.

The unsettling today comes from building on a false foundation of tomorrow.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Proverbs 27:1

Plan for the present. This is all we’re promised.

So I dreamed a dream for the walls wrapped around my life presently.

Big beds deserve a big room. Bedrooms are the best with great windows. And football has me falling asleep in front of the t.v. I concluded what I’m sure you just did.

That ‘great’ room just got greater!

Like a child building a blanket fort, I couldn’t stop giggling as I bent the bed mattress around door frames and shimmied the queen into a room now reflecting a woman of royalty.

writer, trishakeehn.comSince I’m super crazy about cupping my ‘wine of the bean’ first thing in the morning, it made sense to put a Keurig pot next to the bed and set on a timer.

As a writer, it is out of convenience to also carve out a corner for my desk just a few feet from the bed; sometimes the Spirit prompts me in the middle of a night.

Mirrors and chandeliers. It’s a little girl’s fairy tale and a grown woman’s fantasy suite. And that’s why I converted my former bedroom into a dreamy dressing room, with floor space to twirl in fancy dresses and lounging chairs to kick up my heels when this happy heart just needs to soak in the moment.

Now that you want to stay in my place, you can have the master bedroom. I’ve kept the guest room just the way it is because this bachelorette still needs space in her life for others.

My heart to heart takeaway here is that I had built walls around a life that wasn’t mine to be living. The space I stepped into every day was reminding my disappointed soul of what I didn’t have.

The stage where I wanted to stand was holding my heart hostage from experiencing the set of something spectacular in the place that God was holding me.

What was stopping me from living today to its fullest potential was my own desire to live for tomorrow.

You need to let go of tomorrow so you can live fully in today.

You may not be single forever. Seize the chance to travel, try new things and look fear in the face.dreams, potential, what if, what is, trishakeehn.com

Children grow up. Take time to notice and laugh. Let them know they are loved.

Friends don’t always stay. Be intentional with those moments you share.

We are all just a breath away from change.

My hope is that you don’t wait two years to experience what you were meant to live in today.

Exchange ‘what if’ for the power of ‘what is’. It unlocks potential to exceed your dreams.

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Trisha Keehn is a creative writer fueled by a lifetime of faith. She is part of the Life.Church and YouVersion Bible App creative writing team, and uses her broadcast news background to help companies choose their words wisely. Trisha is a wife, mom, coffee connoisseur, lover of libraries, and a savvy traveler.

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

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