Keeping a quiet heart...
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Memory Scripture: You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
My prayer journal is being used more than ever these days.
With a halt in my activities, I have more time to pray. To read. To write.
I see this as a gift.
However...
I miss seeing my friends.
I miss church.
I miss going to the grocery store when I could always find what I needed.
I miss dressing up.
I miss family get togethers.
I miss date nights at yummy restaurants.
I miss watching my daughter play volleyball.
I miss taking my college boy to dinner on weeknights in his college town.
I miss going to my favorite local coffee shop.
I miss lunch dates with friends.
I miss my fitness classes.
Some days are better than others. I grieve the loss of these things from my life.
I see my parents every week from a distance.
I miss hugging their necks.
I miss the smell of my momma.
Elisabeth Elliot wrote in the book that never leaves my nightstand, “St. Augustine said, "The very pleasures of human life men acquire by difficulties." There are times when the entire arrangement of our existence is disrupted and we long then for just one ordinary day - seeing our ordinary life as greatly desirable, even wonderful, in the light of the terrible disruption that has taken place. Difficulty opens our eyes to pleasures we had taken for granted.” (Keep a Quiet Heart)
However...
I am cherishing eating supper together as a family at the table.
Sleeping in a little later.
Staying up a little later.
Long talks with my kids on the back porch.
Long walks with my husband.
Not rushing from one activity to the next.
Lingering suppers on the back porch.
More time to sit and pray.
More time to soak in God's Word.
Telephone conversations instead of texting.
Sending snail mail to friends and family.
This new life looks so different from the old life.
Very different.
The word that keeps coming to mind is "quiet".
For so long, my world and my heart have been anything but quiet. Quiet would make me uncomfortable. I did not like quiet. It scared me.
I am seeing the beauty of quiet these days.
God speaks in the quiet.
We see this in God's Word. Listen, how He speaks to Elijah the prophet....
11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave." 1 Kings 19:11-13
With a slower pace, I see a lot of things that needed changing.
When we don't take time to quiet our lives, we don't see clearly. We rush through life. We miss so much. We miss the smaller, quieter things....which are the big things.
My mother- in -love sent an Easter gift by mail. It may be my favorite gift of all time.
A hummingbird feeder. So simple. Yet, so extraordinary.
When would I ever have time to sit on the back porch and watch a tiny bird sip nectar?
Now.
Daily, I anticipate watching birds come up to my little feeding station and enjoy.
I would have missed this in my old life.
I encourage you, I challenge you...
See what God is doing right where you are. Right under your roof. Right on your back porch.
He is in the quiet places and spaces.
Listen, watch for Him.
Anticipate Him.
He comes to those that seek.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
What will you do with this new place we have all been called?
“Today is mine. Tomorrow is none of my business. If I peer anxiously into the fog of the future, I will strain my spiritual eyes so that I will not see clearly what is required of me now.”
―
learning to embrace quiet,
jill
Subscribe to SHINE emails: Go here.
Memory Scripture: You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
My prayer journal is being used more than ever these days.
With a halt in my activities, I have more time to pray. To read. To write.
I see this as a gift.
However...
I miss seeing my friends.
I miss church.
I miss going to the grocery store when I could always find what I needed.
I miss dressing up.
I miss family get togethers.
I miss date nights at yummy restaurants.
I miss watching my daughter play volleyball.
I miss taking my college boy to dinner on weeknights in his college town.
I miss going to my favorite local coffee shop.
I miss lunch dates with friends.
I miss my fitness classes.
Some days are better than others. I grieve the loss of these things from my life.
I see my parents every week from a distance.
I miss hugging their necks.
I miss the smell of my momma.
Elisabeth Elliot wrote in the book that never leaves my nightstand, “St. Augustine said, "The very pleasures of human life men acquire by difficulties." There are times when the entire arrangement of our existence is disrupted and we long then for just one ordinary day - seeing our ordinary life as greatly desirable, even wonderful, in the light of the terrible disruption that has taken place. Difficulty opens our eyes to pleasures we had taken for granted.” (Keep a Quiet Heart)
However...
I am cherishing eating supper together as a family at the table.
Sleeping in a little later.
Staying up a little later.
Long talks with my kids on the back porch.
Long walks with my husband.
Not rushing from one activity to the next.
Lingering suppers on the back porch.
More time to sit and pray.
More time to soak in God's Word.
Telephone conversations instead of texting.
Sending snail mail to friends and family.
This new life looks so different from the old life.
Very different.
The word that keeps coming to mind is "quiet".
For so long, my world and my heart have been anything but quiet. Quiet would make me uncomfortable. I did not like quiet. It scared me.
I am seeing the beauty of quiet these days.
God speaks in the quiet.
We see this in God's Word. Listen, how He speaks to Elijah the prophet....
11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave." 1 Kings 19:11-13
With a slower pace, I see a lot of things that needed changing.
When we don't take time to quiet our lives, we don't see clearly. We rush through life. We miss so much. We miss the smaller, quieter things....which are the big things.
My mother- in -love sent an Easter gift by mail. It may be my favorite gift of all time.
A hummingbird feeder. So simple. Yet, so extraordinary.
When would I ever have time to sit on the back porch and watch a tiny bird sip nectar?
Now.
Daily, I anticipate watching birds come up to my little feeding station and enjoy.
I would have missed this in my old life.
I encourage you, I challenge you...
See what God is doing right where you are. Right under your roof. Right on your back porch.
He is in the quiet places and spaces.
Listen, watch for Him.
Anticipate Him.
He comes to those that seek.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
What will you do with this new place we have all been called?
“Today is mine. Tomorrow is none of my business. If I peer anxiously into the fog of the future, I will strain my spiritual eyes so that I will not see clearly what is required of me now.”
―
learning to embrace quiet,
jill
