As October comes to a close - honestly, how did it go so fast?! - there's no time like the present to post about this trip at the beginning of the month to the cutest pumpkin patch/family run farm in the surrounding Tampa area! My mom and sister took the day off so we could all go together and it was the most fun.

Not only did the pumpkin patch offer almost every pumpkin you could want (with mini pumpkins in the barn as well!) but there were hayrides, corn mazes, fresh lemonade and cider, games, and all things fall. I honestly loved it so much!

On that day, while I may have been running on only a few hours of sleep, I still felt present in the moment and fully there. Which, as I've written about before, isn't always a common occurrence. But that week it was like something turned a light on in my head and I was awake after walking through a fog for so long. I didn't know how; all I knew was that I didn't want that feeling to end. Because living present in the moment is so much greater than living weighed down and distracted.

As I have been learning and being made aware of recently, the key to being present I believe is a mind over matter type of thing. It's choosing to not allow other people or things or feelings to dictate your perspective, but living in the fullness of God and who He has made you to be. When we walk through life focused on what others might think of us or feeling hurt by various things, our attention becomes so centered on the problem, that we aren't really there in the present. But when we choose to lay aside the things that we have been allowing to take hold of us, then we begin to live in the now, aware of all the good around us and able to better enjoy where we're at in this very moment.

It's not about what happened yesterday, the day before, or even months or years ago. It's not about what this or that person thinks - people are gonna think what they're gonna think, despite your efforts to change that. It's not about the things that have implanted feelings of hurt and rejection. And it's not about the past. That's long gone, can't be taken back.

It's about the now. It's about living in God's love, knowing that despite what others may think of us, we are fully loved and fully accepted by Him...and that's more than enough. It's about living loved and going out no longer dependent on others or on our situations, but on Him, with the notion to live out that love without limitations dictating who we are or how we should live. It's about being fully present in this moment before it's all but gone.

We only get a handful of moments. And we decide what to do with them, how to live them out. I believe the best way is to live present, and live in His fullness...in His love. The only question I can think to wrap this up in the most honest, thought evoking way is: How will you choose to live your moments, right in the now?