Five Minutes of Quiet... (Ya see what I did there?) - A Five Minute Friday post

I missed out on the party last night yet again.  It feels like it has been too long. I even had it on my calendar on my phone and had blocked out a chunk of time to visit, even if not to write. But then, you know... life, man!  I meant to scarf down a bite 'real quick' and sit right back in this chair to visit and write, but I got distracted!

This is Five Minute Friday (- a five minute timed free write) and our One Word Prompt for the day is: QUIET

{GO}

"Quiet..."

...and everyone says, "Yes, please!"

Am I right? Or is that just me my Introverted self?

Seriously... you would think I would be nailing this, right?

I mean - I 'work' from home, I'm an empty nester, I screen my calls... you know the introvert ways!

I thrive in Quiet.  

I have written a LOT about the practice of just Five Minutes of Quiet... of purposely, intentionally setting aside a few minutes a day to relax, breath deep, to slow the crazy and the chaos, and simply find your center yet again!

I write about it... it's just sometimes I forget to actually DO it!



I have been practicing being present more often over the past two weeks and let me tell you, I highly recommend it!  

It DOES take practice though!  Our world is so fast paced and over-booked... so quick tempered and over stimulated... there is always noise clamoring for our attention!

But when I slow myself to silence, I breathe in deep... fully inhaling and fully exhaling. I tune my ears to hear my breathing, my heartbeat, even the ticking of the clock across the room and it is then that I am able to tune in to the rhythms all around. 

And beyond the thrum of humming, I can hear the whirling of the Wind... the soft singing over me of the Spirit and He reminds me,

"I Am in the whisper...  And I Am in the calm..."

For even in this loud world, our God is with us and He can be found in the eye of the storm amidst all the winds and the waves... He is the calm in the middle of chaos and the quiet among the crowds.

I remember last summer, as I was reading The Good and Beautiful Life, God challenged me to go somewhere noisy and listen for His still small voice.  I had grown accustomed to my quiet mornings alone, drinking in the silence as I sipped my morning coffee on the patio. (Selah.)

So He began teaching me that no matter what was going on around me... He was rooted down deep inside of me, and no amount of stress or worry or rush could hush His love from singing all around me!

I just need to find a bit of quiet, and still myself long enough to tune back in to the rhythm of His love!

{STOP}

So... let me just say - this is preaching to myself today! I was literally WIDE AWAKE at 4am... tossed and turned until 5am and finally just got out of a bed and let my clanging thoughts boss me around for an embarrassingly long amount of time before remembering the Truth that I know!

I am hosting an If:Gathering and it is a week from today and I was all chill and super cool about it all... you know, until 4am when I began to realize all the many details that had not quite yet come together.  

By 7:30, I remember my need for coffee and Quiet and brewed a cup and stilled all the lists of things to do... (and then logged on to find that "Quiet" was our word prompt. Because of course, right?)

I am praying for some deep breaths, some quiet even in the midst of chaos, and some harmonizing with His song of love being sung over you this weekend, sweet friends!

Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today.  Five Minute Fridays gives us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click HERE to read what others have to say about: "QUIET"

The FMF lowdown: The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights & then we write our hearts out & hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday & Friday (& sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage & uplift... where we share prayer requests & praise reports... where we talk food & friends & we find support & kindred hearts. It's where we are reminded that life is good & God is good & we're not alone... & then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts & our fingers do the talking tapping & we hit publish before we can second guess it all away. We'd love to have you join us!