My beautiful new planner is here, I am getting all organized, marking down important dates, feeling very much in control! Then Sept 27th catches my eye. In my new planner, (month at a glance page for September)it has this written in the upper corner of Sept 27th...."Family Day: Have dinner with your kids." I stopped short. What has our culture come to? This activity needs to be written down? Made note of? That means it is something to remember rather than a regular occurrence. I have to say, sadness kinda came over me. Have our lives become so busy...is every family so busy that mealtime is a thing of the past?
In my life, I MUST monitor my time. Actually I have to protect every minute of my day. If I don't diligently protect it, soon it will be eaten up by things that don't even matter to me. I start to feel like a complete bystander in my own life. Uuuuggg!! Who wants that! I need reminders that I....I....I am the one in control of who I let into my precious time table. Because my kids are young (12,10,7) I can still dictate quite a bit of what eats up their time too. If I don't take great care in making sure their lives are not too busy, what will their idea of living be? Know what I mean? All this busyness HAS consequences. It seems we are addicted to activity. So many of us don't even know what to do if we have nothing to do. I bet you can think of someone right now (maybe even yourself) that freaks out when there is nothing going on, no where to be and nothing to do. I think that lots of us say we hate being so busy but can that really be true? Let's be honest, shall we. Who exactly is responsible for keeping us so busy? If I complain about being busy, I only have myself to blame. I am not a victim of this...I am a participant. It takes a strong person to look at their lives and get rid of things that need to go. Sometimes it is great things. Sometimes it is things that need to be eliminated for the time being. Often, it is tough choices that have to be made in order to free up some time in our lives to just be still!!!! Speaking of being still.....
In Psalm 46:10, God tells us...."be still and know that I am God." Sometimes it is as simple as that. JUST BE STILL already!! How can we put the things in our lives that God wants us to do if our days are already filled with what we have decided is a must. If you bring the word still back to the Hebrew meaning, it translates to "let go" or "release". God needs us to let go of our to do list. Release it all to Him. Be sure to have some time just to hear from our heavenly Father. Why? Well, scripture tells us He will give us peace and rest. Here are some wonderful, comforting verses that indicate the peaceful joy that God has for us. The catch is...He will not force this upon you. You see, He is always a gentleman. We have to ask for what He offers. We have to accept what He gives.
Jer 6:16 Walk in my ways and you will find rest for your souls.
Jer 31:25 I satisfy the weary ones ad refresh everyone who languishes
Matt 11:28 Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
I have to be reminded from time to time, to make sure I am leaving room for God to speak to me. I must leave some time to be still. This is not only for my own well-being but I must remember, I have little eyes watching me and learning as they grow.
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