"Still" time

Hello out there. I came across this quote about the need for solitude and thought it was awesome. Some of you probably already saw it because I posted it to Pastor Jimmy's wall on FB. Wanted to bring it to our attention today.

"You are like a jar of river water all shaken up. What you need to do is sit still long enough for the sediment to settle and the water to become clear." Ruth Haley Barton

So my question to you today is when is your time to sit still for a minute? I know the possible answers, excuses, and scenarios coming to minds instead of a clear and definite answer, but let's talk about this for a minute. When I read this quote, that's exactly how I feel throughout most of my day. Another picture that comes to mind is a snowglobe all shaken up. I feel like my mind is a flurry of sparkly things whirling about 100 miles an hour, making it hard to see clearly or correctly. If anyone out there can understand how hard it is to carve a few minutes in your day for solitude and quiet, it's me. So I'm feelin' ya sister. And I'm all about keeping it real and practical. For a stay at home mom that also works part time and spends a good amount of time at the church, I need to know God and be refueled in between moments of screaming children, doing dishes, driving in my car, and loud gym music (my job). So as nice as it sounds to have a long, leisurely quiet time spending hours in the Word, prayer, and worship, for me that is not my reality. Maybe it will be one day, but not right now. So does that mean I just stay discouraged and tired, feeling defeated because my walk with the Lord is waning because of the cares and responsibilities of life? Well, it could. And to be honest some days it does. Or I can just make it happen in a way that's practical but still life giving and refreshing to me.

I'll be honest. I'm still battling the whole getting up early in the morning thing. Now most days I'm up early to get ready because I have to be at the gym, so I usually stumble out of bed and fall onto the start button of my coffee pot. I try to squeak out some Word time, just to get my mind focused in the right direction and start the day right. But mostly it's through groggy eyes and a foggy mind. So this is not my still time. This is my I'm-attempting-as-best-as-I-can-to-start-my-day-right time, so there is a lot of motivational self talk, coffee guzzling, and praising God instead of complaining like I want to because I'm tired and my emotions want to talk.

My "still" time comes later in the afternoon where I plan our days around us being home from around 2-4 or so that the kids can have rest time. Now that time is very precious to me, and unfortunately it has to be divided up between cleaning, preparing to teach my classes or see clients, or anything else that has to be done without the distraction of children. But I've discovered something about myself. If I can just have as little as fifteen minutes (and when I'm lucky a little more) or so to be still, listen to worship music, talk with God and sit in the sunshine and absorb some vitamin D, those little sparkly things swirling around slowly begin to settle to the bottom and I can see and think clearly again. And it's amazing what it can do for my day.

Since we're studying the book of James and talking about the life and death importance of reading the Word and knowing God, I figured it would be good to just have a practical talk about what that can look like for us in the middle of our busy days. Simple and practical, James style. So here's to hoping your sparkly things are settling for you today and you can see and hear clearly. Love to my peeps.