Being Still

"Be still, and know that I am God."  Psalm 46:10

I have had five different people, in five different ways, on separate occasions, tell me they had a bible verse for me and it was always Psalm 46:10.  Be still.  That is a tough one for us moms.  We have much to do in our every day lives and it seems that we never have enough time for it all.  I always thanked the person giving me the verse.  Usually when a bible verse and a person come to mind, it is God's subtle way of speaking into your heart.  When I look back on that now, I think I must have looked like a chicken with it's head cut off running around blindly for five people to give me that verse.

I was the mom who tried to be everything and do everything.  I volunteered, helped with school parties, taught catechism, would watch my neighbor's kids if they needed help.  There were no voids in my life, I was full.  Sometimes too full.  I think that we as moms think we need to be the "be all end all" to everyone.  We don't.  We really don't.  I was on a roller-coaster that never stopped at the station so I could get off.  My husband finally looked at me one day and begged me to stop volunteering.  He literally begged me.   So I did.  For two years I told everyone who asked that my husband had forbid me from volunteering for anything and I could not help.  When you throw around a word like "forbid", people take you seriously.  If you waver in anyway, they will worm their way into guilting you into helping.  I was forbidden, pretty strong stuff. 

This actually was the very best thing to ever happen to me.  If you are running a hundred miles a minute, you have no time for yourself, for God and for your spirit.  You need to be refreshed.  You need to be renewed.  You need to be still.  This is not easy to do for mothers.  When everyone in the house is awake and moving, they usually require something from you in some way.  Mom's work harder and longer than anyone on the planet.  Moms work without sleep, they work sick, we have to show up, so we do.  Everyday.  Rain, snow, sleet, the postmen and women have nothing on us, we show up barfing.  This can wear a soul out.  Try to find some time to center yourself.  Center your day.  It may mean getting up early or staying up a little later.  Refresh yourself, you will not regret it.  

A great book is Breathe by Keri Wyatt-Kent, it is about taking the time as a busy mom to be still.  She spoke at a retreat I went to a couple of years ago, totally amazing.  

In taking the time to be still, you are taking the time to be refreshed in your spirit.  We as moms and wives and women, need to be refreshed.  Take a moment today, sit down, turn off everything in the house, and be still.  Take just five minutes, be still.  You will find amazement and refreshment in that moment.  

God bless you and yours.