Here, Now Quotes

“I had a choice. I can’t control noninfectious diseases, natural disasters, or heartbreak. I can’t control most of the things moms worry about, in fact. But I can control how I spend my time, what’s worth my focus and attention, what words I say, how well I love. What was up to me were the small choices, my mindset in this earthly life, and how best to spend my first and only tour on this planet.”
― Kate Merrick, Here, Now: Unearthing Peace and Presence in an Overconnected World

“Why do we allow all the stuff that is junky for us at the soul level to creep in and affect our emotional and spiritual wellness? Just like our physical health, what’s inside eventually manifests outwardly, and if we crowd it with the wrong things, what eventually comes out is jealousy, discontentment, self-loathing, and dissatisfaction. So”
― Kate Merrick, Here, Now: Unearthing Peace and Presence in an Overconnected World

“It’s time to revisit lessons I’ve learned, time to take them further. It’s time to inspect my baggage again, to see what has snuck in there since the last time I cleaned it out. It’s time to ask the harder questions, to cultivate deeper contentment. It’s time to confront what I’m afraid of, what I feel I’m entitled to, and that comparison that plays nasty tricks on me. I’m prepared to be unpleasantly surprised, to unearth stuff that I thought only existed in other people. I’m prepared to find something sparkly in myself and in the offerings of a God who loves me. I’m prepared to do hard work, to reflect, rethink, repent, and rejoice. And I’m prepared to laugh at myself and other people, because, after all, the human species is comedy at its best.”
― Kate Merrick, Here, Now: Unearthing Peace and Presence in an Overconnected World

“This is a journey that, for me, began many years ago and continues still. It involves faith, love, hope. It includes travel, food, naked people, courage, real life, holidays, new friends, and new traditions. It’s about work and play, community, daily rhythms; it’s about the moments that make up a life. It’s a journey to presence. To going off the grid and living life with intentionality. To choosing peace over chaos, little by little turning down the noise, one discovery at a time. It’s a journey to quickening the desperation for contentment and inviting the good, true, and beautiful. Let’s walk in this together. Lay down the chaos and be prepared to get your breath back.”
― Kate Merrick, Here, Now: Unearthing Peace and Presence in an Overconnected World

“Your current circumstances do hold something beautiful—you just might need a new lens. When you and I do this, what we will see is the beauty of God all around us, no matter what life is throwing at us at the moment. Slow down, take in your life, find the beauty, and see God moving all around you—it’s worth it.”
― Kate Merrick, Here, Now: Unearthing Peace and Presence in an Overconnected World