Embracing the Quiet

As a professional Mama of three active and energetic kids I don't often get to experience quiet. It seems as if there is always some sort of noise in my life. Mostly I love the noise, even the crying and arguing that goes on between the kidlets. I find it comforting to embrace the noise because it keeps me grounded in the now. It is far too easy for me to become nostalgic for the past or anxious about the future; but the noise in my life wakes me up to the reality of the present.

To be frank, quiet can sometimes really intimidate me. It feels so empty and big. But I know that I need quiet...I need it for my soul to be nourished and for my spirit to mature. Maturing the spiritual side often is synonymous with hard times...we seem to grow more through difficulties. I don't get that about human beings and I wish I could find a way to real and deep growth through joyful things. But I know that the times when I have grown the most have been when I have been broken...when I have been in need of something far greater than myself or anyone else on this earth could offer me. In those moments, when I cry out to God, when my dependence is on Him alone, I always learn something about God and myself. Maybe it is about God's grace and my selfishness, or maybe His forgiveness and my stubbornness. Whatever it may be is a gift...a gift born out of the unconditional love of God for ME.

No one has ever or will ever love me like God does. I don't have to worry about measuring up...I don't have to wonder if the choices I make about how I live or parent are going to embarrass or disappoint Him...and I don't ever have to earn His love...it's just always there in a unending stream.

So in the moments where I do have quiet I need to not fill it. Filling it might make me feel better for the moment but I know that what I need is a face to face encounter with the God of the universe who made me, knows me inside and out, and loves me with a passion unmatched. I hope for quiet today for me and for you.