Friday, November 9, 2012

Five Minute Friday - Quiet

Lisa-Jo Baker's Five Minute Friday

Start.

This morning I drag myself to the table and plop down.  I am tapped out.  For some reason the kiddos tag teamed last night and what began at three am and a scary dream twisted and turned and hopped and here I am.  Still awake.  Not having slept since three.  I am tired, exhausted, grumpy.  I prepared my coffee which translates to dumping most of the bag of Gingerbread neglecting to measure it.  I am beyond caring as long as it is hot and it contains caffeine, that is what sugar and cream are for, right?  To fix the mistake? 

Anyway, last night as I sat beside the bed of one of my children, rubbing her back, soothing her from a bad dream it was quiet.  The kind of quiet that you can hear the clock ticking all the way from the kitchen.  I don't know about anyone else but in the middle of the night when I cannot sleep for one reason or another my thoughts tumble around and my brain runs non stop.  I replay the day, make mental notes for the ones to come, analyze a comment or a book read or a movie I saw.  I think.  And then think some more.  I wonder about the hurricaine and all of those people now hit with a winter storm.  I wonder about the election and the direction of our country.  I wonder about my children and how we are doing with our parenting.  I wonder about my friends and family and on and on it goes.  Eventually my thoughts turn to God. I wonder about God and His perspective on hurricaines, elections, families and friends and sleepless nights. 

I realized I am not really comfortable with the quiet so I jump from thought to thought desperate to fill up the silence.  Why?  I am not sure.  But this morning when I saw what today's word was I thought about last night and how quiet the space around me was, but how loud and annoying the space inside of me was.  And I wonder, are you comfortable with the quiet?  Are you able to quiet your thoughts and your mind and just enjoy the silence?  If so and if you happen along this post, would you leave a comment and let me know how you do it?

Stop.

4 comments:

  1. I am comfortable with the quiet in being in a room full of people and no one talking.
    I am working on and getting better with the quiet in my head. For a long time, it took the radio being on or the t.v. running in the background for me to be okay with no one talking to/at me. Otherwise, left totally on my own, thoughts of past sin would come rushing in for me to dwell on.
    Thankfully, God provided me with a friend whose husband works strange hours (like my own). We would spend hours in the wee, small hours of the morning talking. She would often pray with me/for me to be able to keep the sin that God had forgiven at bay.
    Now, I do better with the silence. Not for long periods, but for those few minutes before I fall asleep. And, recently, I even found myself working in the kitchen without the radio on! It amazes me because God filled my head with things to think about. The Scripture passage taped to the kitchen cabinet, a hymn sung at church the previous Sunday.
    Hope this helps. And, praying the caffeine kicks in and a nap time for you and the kids occurs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I learned to cherish the quiet when I learned what it meant to BE STILL and KNOW HE is GOD. It was a hard lesson. But an oh-so-good-one!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This line here, "I thought about last night and how quiet the space around me was, but how loud and annoying the space inside of me was." was one I could identify with. Sometimes, it takes a good long while for the inside of my mind to match the outside quiet environment! Thank you for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete