In the Quiet

Butterflies are fun to watch but not so easy to photograph. That is where patience and stillness come into play.

To get this picture i had to sit for some time and make very little movement. In time the butterflies came around-attracted by a small puddle of water. I was practically holding my breath the whole time, making every effort to make as little sound as possible. It was only after they had gotten comfortable and frolicked for a while that i started taking pictures.

As you can see, the effort paid off.

This is true of my quiet time in the mornings as well. It isn't always easy to get up in the morning while everyone else is still sleeping, even more difficult when i haven't slept so well the night before or have a big day ahead. But it is always worth it!

It is not always easy to sit quietly and put away distractions long enough to sit and listen to God. But when i am still it is much easier to hear God when He speaks and it is so worth the effort.

The more time i spend quietly with God the more my faith grows and the more my faith grows the more my patience grows. With this growth comes the eagerness to get up in the morning and spend time with the Lover of my soul. After my time with Him i am much better equipped to face the day and handle whatever comes my way because i have invited my Lord to spend the day with me. I realize i can not make it without Him.

It is also in the quiet moments throughout the day that He continues to teach me-like those moments when i am watching butterflies!

A Prayer for Restoration

Where is my faith? Where is my peace? Where is my joy? And where is my hope? All i really want, all i truly need can only be found in You. Apart from You i have no faith, no peace, no joy and i have no hope.

Why am i so fearful? Troubled? Downcast? Why do i feel so anxious?

Instead of running to You i find myself running from You.

I ask myself why i do this when i know that anything i put before You will only rob me of my joy and steal my peace. You want to restore these things to me and revive in me a calm heart and quiet spirit.

Still i find myself running...running away from You.

All i have to do is call Your name and You are there but the distractions are too much for me to bear. I wasn't meant to bear them alone but i keep trying...and it is a losing battle and i know it.

Finally i find myself, weary from the struggle. So tired of doing on my own-only to fail again.

Lord, i am calling on You now. My voice is weak but i know You hear me just the same.

Please lift me from this pit i have dug for myself and put my feet back on solid ground.

I need You, Lord. The battle is Yours and i am Yours too.

A Prayer

This morning i am fighting a losing battle with distraction and my thoughts are running amok.

Please help me to gather my thoughts and bring each one to You, Lord!

My days are busy. Things seem so chaotic at times. My appetite is great so i fill it with food when what i am really starved for is more of You.



It's not that You have left me, Your faithfulness to me is never ending. But i have neglected my time with You. You are always there but my mind is in so many places and my hours are jammed with things to do and places to go.



Why is it when we need the most to slow down that we have convinced ourselves we have too much to get done?



I had hoped to end this with all the right answers but now i can see it is just going to take more time. And my time is what You want. For it is where i spend most of my time that my heart is. Right now that is a pretty scary thought.



Father, You have given me all that i have and that includes time. Help me to be a better steward of all You have given me.

Two O'clock Saturday Morning

Two o’clock Saturday morning, for some unknown reason, i woke up and could not get back to sleep. For an hour i just laid in the darkness, lost in thought. Nothing profound-just going over my to-do list in my head, rehashing events from the day before and trying to remember the title of the crazy song that keeps playing its annoying self in my mind. Though my mind was busy nothing was getting accomplished. As the minutes ticked away my frustration began to mount. Then it occured to me that i should pray.

Three o’clock Saturday morning, i began to pray. It was as if God was asking me, “Child, what took you so long?”. He knew the answer but i had to hear it for myself, “I was so distracted that i forgot.” Isn’t that true in all our lives and not just at two o’clock in the morning when we can’t sleep? Things happen, problems arise and crises occur but instead of taking it to God we turn to distractions. To numb the discomfort or pain we go to the kitchen for a bag of chips or ice cream. To keep ourselves from looking at our circumstances we busy ourselves with endless activity. To avoid being “exposed” to others we withdraw to the television or the internet. Satan uses many distractions to isolate us and prevent us from experiencing freedom and healing. The longer he can keep us distracted the harder it becomes for us to hear God calling out, “Come to me and I will give you rest.” Please beware of the distractions in your life that isolate and take your focus off the One who gives you peace.

Four o’clock Saturday morning, i thanked God for opening my sleepy eyes to the distractions in my life and asked Him to help me to be more aware of them in the future. I know He is smiling at this time. Then the eyes that know no sleep watched me as i drifted off to sleep.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and i will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Distractions

The evidence of distraction is showing in my journal these days. Many days i have written nothing at all. Other days my writing is incomplete. Evidence of distraction is showing in other places as well. Perhaps the most obvious to everyone are the baskets of laundry that dot the dining room like a small mountain range. The clothes are clean, they just need to be folded and put in their proper places. This is not what i anticipated when Jeremy and i decided that i would be a stay-at-home, homeschooling mama. Niether did i anticipate the long, drawn out process of home remodeling. There are other distractions too, but the remodel is probably the biggest at this time and it is the one that affects the whole family most of all. Right now there are parts of our house that look like a winter wonderland but it is not snow that covers our walls and floors. It is sheetrock dust. Not only is this dust white like snow, it accumalates like snow and covers anything that is not covered. In fact, i have found dust in places i thought were protected. Wherever there is dust there is sneezing and dry eyes. I don't know if this has caused the rawness in my throat but i am sure it has contributed. All this coughing and sneezing has provided another distraction. This has also tired me to the point that i am ready to get in bed after lunch most days. Even though i have been going to bed earlier at night getting up in the morning is proving to be a challenge. The bed is so warm, the air is so cool and i am so tired. The perpetual to-do list in my head reminds me that i have no time for loafing, that i need to get rolling. Once i am out of bed i do have my quiet time even if it is only 10 minutes and from there it is breakfast and a few minutes of Wii fit then a shower. School consumes the next few hours until lunch. After lunch is prepared, eaten and cleared away it is housework, laundry and errand running. The day goes so quickly and there is no slowing down. The kids are in bed at 9 and for an hour i try to unwind by reading or praying but then there are those distractions again. Endless thoughts of what happened today and what needs to be done tomorrow. Distractions! They come in so many forms and steal so much of my time. I know everyone has them. So may i ask, "How do you deal with distractions?".