Listen

I stepped outside on my porch after the first big snow of the season.  Stillness.  Silence.  Undisturbed.  It's like God lays a big blanket over the earth and says, "Now, be still.  Shhh.  Listen."

I'm no fan of winter.  I don't like being cold.  I don't like being stuck indoors.  I don't like brown grass and naked trees.  But when it snows, it's as if God is saying, "Let me cover everything ugly and make it pretty for you.  Let me cover the roads so everyone can just slow down.  Let me make it quiet so you can hear."

In 1965 a report came in front of a Senate subcommittee that said in just a few short years that the country would be able to sit back and relax because the computer age would give lead to a 20 hour work week and people would be able to enjoy the luxury of more time off, less stress and early retirement
. 
Well, isn't that a novelty?  Our government giving heed to a ridiculous report.

The "computer age" has brought with it, more stress, more work, greed, mothers having to leave home to go to the workplace, divorce, warped sensibilities, violence, and a removal of anything Godly from school, work, and government.  Ahhh, the perks of advancement.

I saw on tv the other day, a family that had an idea.  They thought it would be a good thing to have a family meal together, and they were on tv to show everyone how to do that.  That's what we have become.  We have become so disjointed and busy that we don't know how to sit down at a table together.
 
But did you know that when you are still, you can hear a whisper?  Did you know that when the tv and radio are off you can hear a bird chirp?  Did you know that when you yank the headphones off you can hear a fire crackling?  Did you know that when you look up from the laptop, or iPad, or stop texting that you can see the snow falling, see a butterfly dancing through the air, see a deer scamper through the field?  Did you know that when you stop all these things, you can actually think!

I was watching the snow fall and saw some cardinals in one of my trees.  They were chirping and twitching their little heads from side to side, as if to say, "well, aren't you going to give us food?"  So, I got my boots, gloves and coat on and went outside and filled all our bird feeders.  Not a big deal.  But I was able to help some of God's smallest creatures and I wouldn't have even thought of it if everything hadn't been still.  I wouldn't have heard that tiny little call for help.

It made me think of how many opportunities I have missed to help someone in need of a listening ear, a word of encouragement, or even just a smile, because I had too much noise going on...too busy in my own life...too much to do to slow down...

I can remember my mom saying it to me, them me saying it to my children when they were out of control or too noisy. "BE STILL!"  "You just need to quieten down and be still!"

Well, that's what God is telling us.  It's not a request.  It's not a suggestion.  It's a command.  Read the whole chapter of Psalms 46.  It's almost as if God has us by the shoulders, shaking us and telling us, "I am God, I will be exalted, now be still and listen!"

I guess that's what has to happen when we, as children, get too loud and stop paying attention.  We have to be still and hear what God has to say.



Psalms 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Lovin' My Cousins

Last night at church, the ladies were meeting in the prayer room, sharing our hearts and a sweet, older lady asked that we remember her family.  She said that she would love it if we would pray for her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  She told us that her grandchildren and great grandchildren totaled 63.  What!  What an awesome legacy!  And I'm sure that each one of them feel so proud to call her Grandma.

I can remember a time when families were large, and the number of cousins was even larger.  What a time that was.  Meeting at Grandma's house, eating piles of food, listening to aunts and uncles talk and laugh, and the funnest of all was playing in Papa's barn.

It's sad that today many children won't have that memory.  They won't know the connection to lots of cousins who are our very best friends from the start, the chaos of running around Grandma's house, and the excitement of sleepovers, picnics, and dinners.

I've recently reconnected with some of my cousins after decades of being out of touch and nothing's changed!  Yea, we're older, a little more wrinkled, heavier, slower, but our hearts are the same, our memories are the same, our love is the same. 

I have memories of climbing trees, running through the woods and fields, having burial services for animals, putting on plays, sleeping under Grandma's quilts, giggling because our toes were crunched up under the weight, playing in the barn loft day after day, pretend church services with lots of preaching and singing, being chased by cows, and all of it was with my cousins.