What Can You Learn From a 7-Month Old?

Sometimes, simple is better. In a world of so many options, focusing on one thing at a time is refreshing!

This week’s practice of grace is just that. Simple.

Practice of Grace #6 Attentiveness

In her book Doors into Prayers, Emily Griffin invites her readers into a life of prayer. These prayers or practices of grace are to “be sampled throughout the day”. This book captures the basics of prayer and the practicalities of a disciplined prayer life.

The heart of prayer is to give God our full attention. When we live in a culture of multi-tasking with numerous demands screaming at us, attentiveness is fleeting.

Children teach us about giving our full attention to things. My granddaughter, Frankie (pictured here) who is 7 months old, can observe an object in her hand for minutes. She tastes it, moves it from one pudgy hand to another, drops it and searches for it quickly. She is 100% focusing on what is in her hand.

Maybe we can capture that childlike focus in our adult lives. In order to do this, we need to be intentional. Here are 3 simple steps to get you started.

3 Simple Steps to Attentiveness

1, Ask God for help. Help to let go of the to-do list, busyness, and fragmentation of your life. Give God all those concerns. Even if only for 5 minutes. You may have to repeatedly give your list (thoughts and distractions) back to God as you pay attention, but know it’s normal to get pulled back into your fractured life.

2. Notice the evidence of God right where you are in that 5-minute time frame. If you’re driving to work down the same road you always do, don’t mindlessly think about what you didn’t get done at home before you left or the list of things you need to get started when you walk through the door at work.

Instead, notice the snow on the trees that fell the night before. Thank God for the beauty of newly fallen snow. Observe and reflect upon the changing color of the sky as you drive. Thank God. Note how encouraging the music is being played on your favorite radio station. Become aware of your gratitude because your car is reliable to get you from home to work.

3. Do this process a couple of times a day. Find a regular time to practice this discipline of attentiveness. Maybe it’s folding laundry, transporting kids from one activity to another, preparing dinner, bath-time, or vacuuming.

Before you know it, your attentiveness will bring you back to what is real and in the moment. Being present in the here and now, is all we really have. Enjoy life fully alive! Emily Griffin says it well.

Five minutes of practicing attentiveness is a simple and refreshing way of being more alive in the moment. This simplicity can bring a heart of gratitude forward in your day. Permeating all you say and do. What a beautiful practice of grace.