My husband was watching a movie called, "The Edge" ( I think), the other day and it was about these three men whose plane crashed in the mountains somewhere. Alaska, I think. I was struck by the fact that these men were surrounded by an intense beauty, and they did not even notice it. Granted, they were fighting to stay alive so they were a little distracted, however the magnificence of their surroundings was just so obvious that it struck me how easy it is to miss the beauty in the midst of hardship.
I remember sitting on my porch in southern Missouri, watching a storm blew in. I am talking a good thunderstorm with a chance of tornadoes. First it starts with the wind, gusty and surprising, especially when you look up and realize the sun is no longer shining. Then off in the distance you can see the lightning strike, and the thunder begins to rumble. Next, the world turns green. Like, it is literally like looking through green tinted glasses. These are my favorite storms, and the times when I felt the most at peace. Here in Colorado, we do not get this type of storm very often, where in Missouri they came once a week or so. I miss it. Did I mention that those were the times I felt most at peace? Because they are awesome.
Life is a lot like that. Recently, I feel as if my almost 2 year old daughter and I are battling it out. OVER NAPTIME! I mean, come ON! There are so many more important things to be fighting about, but this is the major battle right now. I do not want to battle my daughter, I think there are better, less stressful ways to deal with this kind of thing, but for the life of me I have no clue what it is. For a couple days it got really bad. We were both in bad moods, she was whiny, I was grumpy...not a good combination. It was during this that I failed to enjoy the good things. Enjoy my daughter's laughter, her snuggles and vampire kisses (she bites when she kisses...still trying to fix that one). Sometimes, stopping to enjoy the beauty of a moment in time helps us de-stress enough to get a handle on it.
One way of doing this that is incredibly helpful is quieting your mind in prayer. I am talking about clearing out your head, not praying in any way...just hanging out with God. No agenda or anything. Just sitting with Him in silence. I know, this sounds like mediation right? It is, but w/out the "Ohmmms" and whatnot. Meditating on Him, on His goodness, etc. Mostly, I just sit and enjoy His presence in silence, because there is so much peace in knowing that you can just hang out with Him that way, and then doing it. The world can be chaotic, but you can go to that secret place with Him, and you and He can just enjoy each others presence. It takes some training to do this, mostly because we let our minds wander wherever they want so much. However, once you get the hang of it and have disciplined your mind to not wander, it will be one of the most amazing parts of your walk with the Lord.
I remember sitting on my porch in southern Missouri, watching a storm blew in. I am talking a good thunderstorm with a chance of tornadoes. First it starts with the wind, gusty and surprising, especially when you look up and realize the sun is no longer shining. Then off in the distance you can see the lightning strike, and the thunder begins to rumble. Next, the world turns green. Like, it is literally like looking through green tinted glasses. These are my favorite storms, and the times when I felt the most at peace. Here in Colorado, we do not get this type of storm very often, where in Missouri they came once a week or so. I miss it. Did I mention that those were the times I felt most at peace? Because they are awesome.
Life is a lot like that. Recently, I feel as if my almost 2 year old daughter and I are battling it out. OVER NAPTIME! I mean, come ON! There are so many more important things to be fighting about, but this is the major battle right now. I do not want to battle my daughter, I think there are better, less stressful ways to deal with this kind of thing, but for the life of me I have no clue what it is. For a couple days it got really bad. We were both in bad moods, she was whiny, I was grumpy...not a good combination. It was during this that I failed to enjoy the good things. Enjoy my daughter's laughter, her snuggles and vampire kisses (she bites when she kisses...still trying to fix that one). Sometimes, stopping to enjoy the beauty of a moment in time helps us de-stress enough to get a handle on it.
One way of doing this that is incredibly helpful is quieting your mind in prayer. I am talking about clearing out your head, not praying in any way...just hanging out with God. No agenda or anything. Just sitting with Him in silence. I know, this sounds like mediation right? It is, but w/out the "Ohmmms" and whatnot. Meditating on Him, on His goodness, etc. Mostly, I just sit and enjoy His presence in silence, because there is so much peace in knowing that you can just hang out with Him that way, and then doing it. The world can be chaotic, but you can go to that secret place with Him, and you and He can just enjoy each others presence. It takes some training to do this, mostly because we let our minds wander wherever they want so much. However, once you get the hang of it and have disciplined your mind to not wander, it will be one of the most amazing parts of your walk with the Lord.
