A QUIET PLACE

   

A QUIET PLACE

A couple of weeks ago, my friend, Kathy Stiles, put up a photo of herself sitting quietly on a bench overlooking a body of water. It instantly made me feel peaceful. I responded to her post, and she asked me if I’d listened to the song that went with the picture. I hadn’t noticed it, but then I went back and listened. It was a song called STILL, referring to the verse in Psalms 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.” I could feel it calming my nerves as I listened. I decided that listening to this song would be a good thing for me to do regularly.

 

At first, I tried to listen to it in the afternoon out on my patio, but there was a lot of distraction from the street noises and the birds. Then the next day, I thought I’d listen to it again in the afternoon, but I had other things I needed to do. It seemed that the afternoon wasn’t going to work out, and for several days my appointments with stillness got postponed. How many times have we put off doing what God inspires, and let our worldly choices take priority instead? But God never gives up on us, if in our hearts, we really want to do His will.

 

Then one evening, as I was watering my garden on one side of the yard, I looked over on the other side, and saw an opening in the branches of my fig tree. It was like a secret place calling me in to sit down in the shade under the tree's canopy. I pulled a lawn chair over and in I went with my laptop cued up to the STILL song.

 

There were many green figs on the tree, as the ripe season is just around the corner—the week of July 4^th. But when I settled in and looked up, there was one perfectly ripe fig right in front of me! Thanks Lord, for the affirmation that this was His idea and there would be ripe fruit in the taking. I picked the fig and sat it on my laptop while I watched and listened to that beautiful song on YouTube. And yes, every time I go to my quiet place, I can feel the instant melting of my anxiety and my body and mind is filled with His wonderful peace.  

 

I’ve visited  my fig tree sanctuary many times since then. It’s so great that the Lord always makes a way for us to receive His healing peace into our lives. I’ve included the link to the song if you’d like to take a listen.

 

Love, Carolyn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRhblSLKRJE

P.S. Thanks, Kathy, for posting that! God to you to me 😊

 

REFRESHING, NOT DISTRESSING

REFRESHING, NOT DISTRESSING

My friend Alex told me that yesterday after work he couldn’t stop thinking about the job and he was really stressed out. When he got home he took one look at his pool. Though the pool has been operational for a couple months now, this was the first time he decided he really wanted to get in and take a swim. He told me the water was shockingly cold at first, but then he started just floating on his back and looking up at his trees and his whole body and brain started to relax.

The phrase “chilling out,” meaning “relaxing,” is literally accurate. Cool water is good for slowing things down. When my shoulder gets tense, I put an ice pack on it. It stings at first, but if I just bear it for a couple seconds, I start to breathe slowly and deeply, the tension goes and it feels pretty darn good. 

Some of us always move pretty fast, if not always in body, then at least in our brains. I’m like that. It’s hard for me to just sit down and meditate quietly. When I start, the thoughts of things I need to do come popping into my head and I have to grab my pen and make a note. It takes some real determination for me to really slow down and “chill out.”

If you can relate to that, then we both need to learn how to breathe deep and be still. We need to give our brains a rest sometimes, even when we’re awake.

In Psalm 46:10 God tells us: “Be still, and know that I am God.” Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

Even as I was writing this article on my computer, my internet connection went out and I started to get frustrated. I took a deep breath and stayed as quiet as I could, while my roommate Jane took a look at it and fixed the connection. I thank God for Jane.

Lately it seems like I’ve been hit with so many things to get rattled about, but not to worry. Jesus is always there to get me right back on track. I believe Jesus had my friend Alex tell me that story about the pool because He, Jesus, had a special message for me. When Alex described the incident it was as if I was there myself. I could feel the chill of the water and then the refreshing and calm. Jesus was trying to get me to pay attention.

So when the computer incident happened, I was able to pull myself back from distress and calm myself with the scriptures. And now that the incident is over, I feel much more refreshed. Cool shower to finish off the day? Maybe I’ll try it.

Love, Carolyn

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