I don't know about you but when life gets really crazy I feel like I need to get time away and I mean gone; beach, mountains, airplane somewhere. It's kind of that all-or-nothing idea. If I can't get completely away then I'm not really "away". But life doesn't work like that. We can't leave our jobs, families, responsibilities to get away all the time. So how do we get a moment to ourselves when everything around us continues to push for our time and attention?
Let's start with the smallest moment. Think about your day. Is there even 1 minute, literally, where there is no one with you, talking to you, asking anything of you? Is it the moment you wake up? Maybe those few minutes before sleep? How about in the bathroom? Shower? A return trip after dropping all the kids off? We all have brief moments when we are alone. Unless you have a disability that doesn't allow you to safely be alone you are alone for at least a minute. "So what can we do in a minute? That's not very much time." Great question! I think there are a few really purposeful things that can be done to jump start us or restart us any minute we need.
First, just to choose to stop and breathe. So often we are running around for so many other people that we forget to just take a deep breath. I mean the singing/swimming kind that pushes the stomach out. (Remember you're alone. You can push your stomach out to take a breath. No self-judging. We can get into losing that stomach, if you like, in a different section of this blog.)
I think another thing we can do when we have a moment to ourselves is pray. Prayer does not have to be this long drawn out event that has fancy words or makes you cry. Prayer is a conversation and, though we are without human company at this moment, God's children will never be without the love and power of the Holy Spirit.** Talk to Jesus, open up your heart to him. You do not have to say much of anything but his name. He knows you and knows your every thought and need. Just ask him and he will give you exactly what you need at that very moment.
Lastly if you have a bit more than a minute or know from memory you can read 1 verse from the Bible. Sometimes we say we are going to get up early to have our "time with God" but then sleep in because you worked late or a kid was up with you. It happens, but let's not go back to the all-or-nothing kind of thinking. If we have a minute to read one verse that is more then zero verses. AND since the God we serve can take two little fish and five loafs of bread and feed a crowd almost as big as the city I live in then I know he will cause HIS WORD to grow in my mind and heart.
So take that 1 minute to take a deep breath and enjoy that you are alive and loved by the creator of all we see. Spend that moment talking to Jesus. Let him in to the spaces of your life and heart and he will make you new and give you peace and rest. Let him be your best friend. And learn the word of God. It's Jesus/God's love letter to you. Just as a teen girl reads and rereads the three or four words a boy may write down while swooning over them let that be the Bible to you. Rest, breathe, pray and take that minute as you get them. They add up.
Let's start with the smallest moment. Think about your day. Is there even 1 minute, literally, where there is no one with you, talking to you, asking anything of you? Is it the moment you wake up? Maybe those few minutes before sleep? How about in the bathroom? Shower? A return trip after dropping all the kids off? We all have brief moments when we are alone. Unless you have a disability that doesn't allow you to safely be alone you are alone for at least a minute. "So what can we do in a minute? That's not very much time." Great question! I think there are a few really purposeful things that can be done to jump start us or restart us any minute we need.
First, just to choose to stop and breathe. So often we are running around for so many other people that we forget to just take a deep breath. I mean the singing/swimming kind that pushes the stomach out. (Remember you're alone. You can push your stomach out to take a breath. No self-judging. We can get into losing that stomach, if you like, in a different section of this blog.)
I think another thing we can do when we have a moment to ourselves is pray. Prayer does not have to be this long drawn out event that has fancy words or makes you cry. Prayer is a conversation and, though we are without human company at this moment, God's children will never be without the love and power of the Holy Spirit.** Talk to Jesus, open up your heart to him. You do not have to say much of anything but his name. He knows you and knows your every thought and need. Just ask him and he will give you exactly what you need at that very moment.
Lastly if you have a bit more than a minute or know from memory you can read 1 verse from the Bible. Sometimes we say we are going to get up early to have our "time with God" but then sleep in because you worked late or a kid was up with you. It happens, but let's not go back to the all-or-nothing kind of thinking. If we have a minute to read one verse that is more then zero verses. AND since the God we serve can take two little fish and five loafs of bread and feed a crowd almost as big as the city I live in then I know he will cause HIS WORD to grow in my mind and heart.
So take that 1 minute to take a deep breath and enjoy that you are alive and loved by the creator of all we see. Spend that moment talking to Jesus. Let him in to the spaces of your life and heart and he will make you new and give you peace and rest. Let him be your best friend. And learn the word of God. It's Jesus/God's love letter to you. Just as a teen girl reads and rereads the three or four words a boy may write down while swooning over them let that be the Bible to you. Rest, breathe, pray and take that minute as you get them. They add up.