Wednesday, February 04, 2015

Quiet Days of Coming Away




"Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near... Be still, and know that I am God."   ...  Isaiah 55:6, Psalm 46:10


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So on this black, warmish (25 degrees) morning, I shoveled a couple inches of new snow out to the garage for Tom and thought of something: my head wasn't forming a blog post about the shoveling.

Whew.

If you're also a writer, you know how it can be. There's like this room with a desk (and pen and paper) inside your brain where the lamps never get turned off and the forming of descriptive sentences happens from morning till nighttime. And often you even tell the constant writer up there to knock it off, to give you a break, because you just, for awhile, want to live your life rather than write invisible sentences about it.

Color me grateful that God understands how annoying that can become. For the past ten or so days He's released me from not only consistently blogging here, but from playing with all those sentences formations. It's like He's helped me to switch that light off up there and just sit in some much-needed silence with Him. 

And sitting anywhere with God is always lovely, especially after He reminds you of simplicity: what truly matters in Life--and what does not.

These past days He's reminded me that I'm not just a writer and certainly not a blogging machine. The writing, I'm remembering, is something He created me to do so to help others, but it's not who I am. It's only a part of me, which can be difficult to remember since blogging is so darn daily

Of course, this post isn't only meant for us writers, but it's for anyone with a daily calling: wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, employees, employers, caregivers. For anyone, also, who's weighed down by the daily tragedies in this sad, sinful world. Who God is creating us to be is bigger than what we do for Him. What we do is only a piece of the puzzle, but oh, the completed puzzle is huge.

I love it when God sets me apart for days like this. How we sit together on the red couch and stare out at the snowy river down the street or the times we watch tv while my mind relaxes and the constant-on light in that writing room shuts off. I so need to remember there are other important rooms up there and inside my heart and that people are responsible for their own relationship with God. It's not up to me or my writings to provide what they must find for themselves. 

So many places in Life are there to visit and learn from! Even here inside a home surrounded by snowdrifts there is much to remember and memorize again. And it's all good because of the patient teacher who sits quietly, lovingly, beside me.







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"Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  ...  Matthew 13:22,23

 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will [a]ease and relieve and [b]refresh [c]your souls.]"   ...Matthew 11:28


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Happy February!





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Free Kindle books:


Firewall

Blue Robin-- The Girl Pioneer

The Biography of a Prairie Girl

Canyon of Death

3 comments:

  1. Beautifully written Debra ! Yes that quite time is so very important !

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  2. So much truth to this, Debra. My husband and I went out for breakfast the other day and he asked me, "aren't you going to take a picture?" (for Facebook...) I said, "No, let's just let this one be for you and me." But it caused me to think the same thing: has my life been reduced to Facebook? I hope not! And yet, I've also noticed that social media, for all its faults, has also caused me to find appreciation for the little things in life, and to realize that other people are all about the little things too. One of my most popular Facebook posts EVER, was when I posted photos of the pretty tissue boxes I discovered at Aldi's, our local small bargain grocery. There was a bond formed that morning, seeing how many other people care about whether their Kleenex box matches their decor...and how passionately they care! LOL! But you know what I mean...there IS pleasure in the little things in life, and I think my attitude of gratitude has grown just by thinking more intentionally about the "instagram" snippets of life.

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  3. Thanks, Elizabeth! This quiet time has been like a quiet two weeks. :) It's a test for me sometimes because to other people it can also resemble laziness. So God often asks me if I can risk being accused of laziness for His sake. It's tough sometimes, but always leads to better things when I obey.

    Deb--yep, this Internet world has changed our ways of thinking and sharing, indeed. If we use it as God instructs, I believe it leads to great things, even when we're speaking of small things. But then, I'm also seeing that to God, nothing is actually small-small at all. Know what I mean? :)

    Thanks, Ladies! Blessings, Debra

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