Snow

You know, that fluffy white stuff... I love how the earth seems to be so quiet after a few inches of freshly fallen snow. It's as though snow is the perfect sound dampener.  People with ADHD can be very sensitive to stimulae, i.e. noise, light, tags in clothing, textures of cloths and how they feel against the skin.  Right now I'm sitting in my mother's living room and I can hear the blower of the furnace, a clock quietly ticking, cars going by on the road out front and a low hum the earth seems to constantly play.  But, it's quiet and somehow the snow in the yard outside the window has made the cars not so loud as they pass by.  I'm reminded by the quiet of a beautiful song by Michael Card entitled "In Stillness and Simplicity"

In stillness and simplicity, in the silence of the heart I see,
The mystery of eternity Who lives inside of me.

In stillness and simplicity, I hear the Spirit silently, 
That You oh Lord are close to me, in stillness and simplicity.

You're the Word Who must be heard by those who listen quietly.
Is the reason we're not still to hear You speak, because we don't believe You will?

In stillness and simplicity, I loose myself in finding Thee.  
Oh Lord You mean so much to me, in stillness and simplicity.

So Seek the One who dwells in you, the Kingdom that within is true,
That innermost reality, in stillness and simplicity.

This song speaks to how I feel at times like these.  Time to get back to basics, to stillness and simplicity.  We as a society have developed a "doctrine of business" - if we're not busy, we're not productive.  However it's at those times of quietness before our Creator that we become most creative and, as a consequence, most productive.  Unfortunately it is so difficult to quiet ourselves enough to hear the Lord speak, it's so easy to fidget and let our minds wander when we attempt to practice meditation that, when I find myself in the position I'm now in, it's so moving and wonderful.  In this present quietness I feel like I could reach out and touch the Lord's face and talk to Him as though we were sitting across the table from each other, drinking coffee and sharing conversation.  OK, I admit, when I'm sure no one is around I actually speak out loud to the chair across from me as though the Lord is sitting right there.  Afterwards I hunger for more but then my mind gets distracted by something and I'm back in the world.

My husband's cousin posted something on FaceBook about how to study the Bible.  A great bible scholar was asked how he studied the Bible and he responded that he read each book 40 to 50 times before he began to study it. How simple and yet profound.

So today I'm grateful for:

1.  Snow
2.  Quietness
3.  Sharing Conversation with the Lord
4.  Sharing daily verses with Jain
5.  A good night's sleep

Later
Jan

Jesus Calling

Last fall I purchased an app for my Nook based on a book by Sarah Young entitled "Jesus Calling" and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in improving their relationship with the Lord.  I also need to thank Tina (you know who you are) for turning me onto this book/app.  Because I don't want to have to look up the scriptures referenced at the bottom of each day's entry I like the app because it goes beyond citing the scripture reference, it prints the entire reference out for me.  This way I can avoid the confusion of having 2 books in front of me and, if I want to go deeper into the scriptures I can pull out my bible and research further or use one of the bibles on my Nook.  I don't know if this is an ADD thing or simple laziness.  Don't care.

What I DO care about is how this simple app/book has completely overhauled my relationship with the Lord!  Prior to Jesus Calling I had many daily devotionals by noted Christian scholars and ministers but if I looked at them once a month I was doing good.  Jesus Calling brings about an intimacy with the Lord I never had or even knew I could have.

This past week I've been struggling with "growing up" and all that implies.  I wanted to no longer make decisions for and about my life.  I wanted someone else to do it.  It was overwhelming me.  I even read Jesus Calling and somehow that didn't work, or so I thought.  I IS VERY SCARY to completely place your life in God's hands and not try to control circumstances.  I often feel like that lady in the life alert commercial.
But since I've actively given my life over to the Lord I've seen more miracles happen than a person has a right to.  Yet somehow my humanness strives to wrench control back from God.  Why can I be so stupid?

Deep inside I know that when I'm in God's hands my life will run sooooo smoothly and worries will cease.  Overwhelming peace and joy will fill me.  I KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE yet I struggle to be independent.

So from now on when I fret and worry about the future, I'm just gonna say out loud "God's got it all figured out for my good."

So for today I'm grateful for:

1.  God controlling my life.  I really don't want to grow up anyhow.
2.  God's peace
3.  God's joy
4.  God's salvation
5.  God's miraculous provision.  (ask me about it sometime - I like bragging on God)

Later,
Jan