So, I've been meaning to get this written for a while, but I've still had thoughts crystallizing. Today, I finally felt like I got to point where the words were formed enough to be shared.
As suggested in 21 Days of Wonder challenge, I took twenty minutes and sat in silence.
I took the batteries out of both my clocks, opened my Bible and notebook and just listened.
(I couldn't do anything about the fireworks, car horns or crying babies outside. But it was a silent as life in a city gets.)
My thoughts started to go back to another post by Margaret Feinberg that I had just read about Lent. Last year was the first year that I really observed Lent and I was grateful for the reminder early enough to really be able to give it some thought. Her challenge: to read the entire Bible in the 40 days of Lent. Wow.
As I sat in silence, I kept thinking about the one thing that I could do that would give me more time to be able to consider taking on such a big challenge. For Lent, I could give up watching TV and movies.
If you know me at all, you will realize that this is a challenge. I don't have my TV on constantly. But it is my go-to option for background noise around the apartment. And the almost immediate bargaining I felt in my heart told me that if I was this reluctant to give it up, maybe it meant too much to me and giving up TV was that much more important.
Today, I sat in silence again. I'm on break, so I had the luxury of an hour of reading, listening, praying and journaling. I finally had time to do something that's been percolating in my brain for a long time. Looking at verses in the Bible that speak on humility. I've really been struggling with this sense that my life is too me-focused and not really sure what to do to pull myself out of it.
I was really struck by 1 Peter 5. The idea of clothing yourself in humility. The idea of the mighty hand of God lifting you up as you humble yourself before Him. I'm still getting there. But I finished my time of silence today considering the idea that humility starts with a proper understanding of who I am and my position before God. He's sovereign; I am not.
Now, in the time that I've been putting these thoughts together, I can see how these tie together. The more I choose to use my time on things that are easy but not really worthwhile (like watching so much tv), the easier it is to do that with the rest of my time and activities.
My prayer is that this season of Lent will be a time that I can remove at least one distraction in order to refocus on the One who humbled Himself even to point of a humiliating, excruciating death so that I could have a right relationship with Him.
This post was part of the 21 Days of Wonder challenge. Find out more here. and #LIVEWONDERSTRUCK
As suggested in 21 Days of Wonder challenge, I took twenty minutes and sat in silence.
I took the batteries out of both my clocks, opened my Bible and notebook and just listened.
(I couldn't do anything about the fireworks, car horns or crying babies outside. But it was a silent as life in a city gets.)
My thoughts started to go back to another post by Margaret Feinberg that I had just read about Lent. Last year was the first year that I really observed Lent and I was grateful for the reminder early enough to really be able to give it some thought. Her challenge: to read the entire Bible in the 40 days of Lent. Wow.
As I sat in silence, I kept thinking about the one thing that I could do that would give me more time to be able to consider taking on such a big challenge. For Lent, I could give up watching TV and movies.
If you know me at all, you will realize that this is a challenge. I don't have my TV on constantly. But it is my go-to option for background noise around the apartment. And the almost immediate bargaining I felt in my heart told me that if I was this reluctant to give it up, maybe it meant too much to me and giving up TV was that much more important.
Today, I sat in silence again. I'm on break, so I had the luxury of an hour of reading, listening, praying and journaling. I finally had time to do something that's been percolating in my brain for a long time. Looking at verses in the Bible that speak on humility. I've really been struggling with this sense that my life is too me-focused and not really sure what to do to pull myself out of it.
I was really struck by 1 Peter 5. The idea of clothing yourself in humility. The idea of the mighty hand of God lifting you up as you humble yourself before Him. I'm still getting there. But I finished my time of silence today considering the idea that humility starts with a proper understanding of who I am and my position before God. He's sovereign; I am not.
Now, in the time that I've been putting these thoughts together, I can see how these tie together. The more I choose to use my time on things that are easy but not really worthwhile (like watching so much tv), the easier it is to do that with the rest of my time and activities.
My prayer is that this season of Lent will be a time that I can remove at least one distraction in order to refocus on the One who humbled Himself even to point of a humiliating, excruciating death so that I could have a right relationship with Him.
This post was part of the 21 Days of Wonder challenge. Find out more here. and #LIVEWONDERSTRUCK
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