Be Still

My life is a non-stop whirlwind of toddler, dogs, husband, older children, parents, siblings, work, cleaning, errands, bills, and so much more. We revel in our busy-ness, don't we? "I can't, I'm busy" seems to be the drumbeat of the millennium. It astounds me that we have all of these time-savers like laptops and smartphones and microwaves and cars, and yet we still cry out, "I don't have time for that!" Whatever 'that' might be...

But oh, isn't it usually something we need? Something we crave? We don't have time to read a book, or sit and watch the birds. We don't have time to sit and play because we have to X, Y, and Z.

"Be still, and know that I am God."

"But, I don't have time for that!" I say.

There is NOTHING I need more, though. I'm sitting in a beautiful moment right now, alone in the house but for sleeping dogs and a sleeping child. A thousand things drift -- no, jog with maddening speed -- through my mind that I should be doing right now. Checking things off my to-do list, working on articles that aren't even due for two months, or immediately jumping on the two essays in my inbox that came in today even though I have a five day response window... but do you know what I did?

I read three chapters of a book in a hot bubble bath. I prayed. I wrote to my sister. And right now? I'm going to shut everything down, and I'm going to be still.

Try it.

You won't be disappointed.

-Stephanie Jean