Noise...

Noise can be a good thing or a bad thing...encouraging or depressing...calming or overwhelming.

When my kids were little, I use to look forward to bedtime every night and the lovely quiet that followed. I used to crave it: the quietness of nothing. No noise, no chattering, no bickering, no questions, no why?, no Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! In that solitude I could finally let my mind just be.

Now my kiddos are older and the noise has turned into something else entirely. When my two teenagers went to camp this past summer, I was all geared up to get so much done while they were gone. But by the second day, the quiet, which I usually found so comforting, was starting to bother me. 

My Dear Hubby found me one day just studying the family photos and reminiscing about when the kids were younger. During this time, the quiet made me sad. It seems the lack of noise was just a reminder that our life would be that quiet in just a few short years: the two oldest would be off at college and the other one would be busy with basketball and youth activities and functions.

No noise reminded me just how fast life was passing by...and I didn't like it. Not one single bit.

I've realized in the last few years that the busyness of life causes alot of noise in my life. The constant go, go, go of church, ministries, school, house work, sports, and youth, can sometimes overwhelm my mind causing me to feel frustrated, anxious, and irritated. This then leads me to believe that even my own emotions can add overwhelming noise in my life.

It's during times of trials and hardships, maybe even unexpected situations, when I'm just not sure what I'm suppose to do, or what I'm suppose to say, or how I'm suppose to handle something, that I feel myself drowning in just loud, obnoxious noise...figuratively speaking, of course.

This is where I've found myself these past few months: inundated with thoughts and emotions in my own personal life. What I desperately needed was to take a huge, giant step back and look at things rather simply. To take out a fresh sheet of paper and write a very basic schedule and checklist for myself. Because, let's face it, there are just some things that have to be done no matter what. 

But it even went a step further. It also meant wrestling my mind back under control. To stop worrying about things that I could not control. To set aside the feelings of anger, resentment, bitterness, and sadness that I found myself bombarded with as things seemed to fall apart around me.

Instead, I needed to remember that whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Phil 4:8)

Once again I am reminded of Elijah, on the run from Jezebel, and hiding out in a cave. The Lord came to speak with him in his hideout; and when He (the Lord) passed by, there was a great and strong wind. So strong that it broke the rocks and the mountains into pieces. Then there was an earthquake, and then a fire. All of this produced such terrifying sounds I'm sure. But it was after all of this noise, when everything was quiet, that there came a still small voice. (I Kings 19:1-12)

The application for me is clear: You can't hear the still small voice of the Lord when your life is inundated with noise. 

I've learned much about myself over the last few months, the journey I've had to take to get where I am today. I'm sure that in a few months I'll need to stop and once again take a good, long look at my life. By then it may be time to pull out another fresh sheet of paper and start simplifying where life has become complicated.

Maybe you can join me.

Simply Simplifying,