A Time for Quiet

Right now the house is quiet...so, so quiet. It's also very early in the morning, still dark outside and still very cold in the house because the fire Ben just built before leaving for work hasn't heated up the house yet. There are very few moments in my day to day routine that are this quiet. I've gotten up, said goodbye to my husband, fed the baby, eaten breakfast, read my Bible and a few blog posts that encouraged me. I still have 35 minutes before I have to wake up the kids and it is no longer quiet in here. In the quiet I am able to think and gather my thoughts. In the quiet I am able to reflect on what God is doing in my life and with our family. In the quiet I am able to meditate on Gods word and how it applies to me today, in this moment. In the quiet I am able to find perspective.

You see when it's no longer quiet what happens is the house is filled with the stomping of feet, the sounds of sword fights, the bangs of little boys pretending to be super hero's, the high-pitched squeals of a little girl laughing because her brothers are tickling her, the coos of the baby, the loud grunts from the just 1-year old who so desperately wants to be heard but has not found the words to speak yet. Sometimes the quiet is filled with squabbles and tiffs, crying about hurt feelings, someone not sharing or someone getting hurt. The quiet is broken by the demands of 7 little people all needing their mom for one thing or another from food and diaper changes to reading a book or finding a lost toy. The quiet is interrupted by emails that need to be returned or sent, doctor appointments that need to be made or rescheduled, phone calls that need to be returned,
phone calls that should be returned but never are, deodorant and shampoo that needs to be ordered on Amazon (with prime 2-day shipping of course) because that is faster than trying to leave the house, beds that need to be changed because we seem to always be in potty training mode over here! The list goes on and the longer the list the harder perspective is to find.

This quiet time I receive is a wonderful gift from God even though at times, in the pitch black of 4:30 am and the freezing cold of winter, I do not see it as such. It's not always easy to force myself out from under the very warm covers (these days an infant in the house makes it necessary) but I am always glad I did. As hard as it is I have realized that I need this quiet time more desperately than I need sleep. Sleep is important and I make sure I get what I can but the extra time in the morning alone with God, to reflect and meditate is just as needful to my health and mental well-being as sleep is. The uninterrupted silence that allows me to plan my day or week, to look ahead about what needs to get done and find Gods direction on what my priorities should be and what I need to leave behind. The time to look back and see how I can do things differently or better or not at all! To reflect on the countless blessings I have. Yes as I sit here at the cold computer, with just a lamp to light my words, I am reminded how necessary this quiet time is!