Yesterday while Mr. C was at preschool and the baby took a long morning nap I did something I rarely get to do. I just laid in bed. Usually when this happens I try to take advantage of that time and clean house, exercise/shower without being interrupted(quite a feat when you have little ones), read a book...you get the idea. But for some reason yesterday I just felt like laying down.
I did get on the computer for a while - checked my email, got on facebook for a bit, and thought about writing a blog post. But nothing was coming to mind. So I put the laptop down. I just stared at the ceiling for a bit(thinking how weird it felt to be laying in my bed with sunlight shining through my window and the house being so quiet. Can you tell this doesn't happen much?).
And then I just started talking to God. Nothing serious. But I felt so relaxed, and it was just me and Him in the middle of my day. I'll be honest, usually he hears from me at the end of my day, when I'm tired and weary and more than likely in a hurry because sleep is calling my name. But yesterday I was reminded why I made prayer one of my resolutions. And I firmly believe that just taking those few moments of being quiet in his presence allowed some ideas for future posts to come to mind.
I need to pray more often throughout the day. Be in continual prayer, if you will. God is our Heavenly Father and if we truly love him and want him in our lives, we should obviously be talking to him, right?! I feel like we(and I'm including myself in that "we") often wonder at different times why God feels so far away, maybe not too real....just a looming figure in the skies. But I believe it is because we have distanced ourselves from him. He has never moved. Prayer is the medium by which we can talk with him, and the Bible being one of the ways he can talk to us if we take the time to read it, study it, and apply it to our lives. When we do these things we are drawing closer to Him.
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Philippians 4:6-7 The Message
So I'm working on it! :) Do you have anything you would like prayer for? I know I have people in my life who pray for me and it is such a comfort, and it has always made a difference. I may not get the "answer" or outcome I want every time, but I know God hears those prayers from me and the ones made on my behalf....and he answers in his perfect will. So if you would like the comfort of knowing someone else is praying for you or along with you - let me know. I don't care if I see you every day in "real life", if we haven't talked in years, or if we have never met - Leave a comment or email me libbybolesky@gmail .com.
So true! I often find myself not taking a time-out where I can just take a few moments to relax and be thankful and remember how blessed that I am. I sometimes get very stressed and caught up in everything that I let it get to me. Being an only parent and working and going to school with two children has its trials. But I know that even though I havent always made the "right" decisions that it doesnt mean that I made the "wrong" decisions. I use to struggle with my faith and as "why would God put me through this" or ask myself what I did so wrong that He would punish me. It took me a while to realize that I was making my own choices and that I could be a better person. Ive been down a rocky road but I am so much stronger of a person because of it. I dont have the traditional life, I have two children and am not married. I use to judge others who were in that situation before I was walking those steps myself. I know now that it does not make me a bad person and where I want my children to make the "right" choices in life I can only pray that I have been a strong enough mother to them that they learn from my "mistakes." I dont regret much, I only wish that instead of blaming God I would have believed in his strength and remembered that even at times when we think that we can take no more that things turn around and we learn a lesson from it. Even in our darkest times there is always someone who loves us and He is there for us no matter what, He forgives and loves us unconditionaly.
ReplyDeleteFor God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
This verse helps me in so many ways. He gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we could have life and we should make the best of it and not forget to take time in our day to thank Him!
Thanks for that comment Ali. So important for us all to remember, no matter our circumstances! I admire your strength as a single parent to be able to do all those things!! It is funny you talk about being angry with God because our minister just talked about that Sunday and it was such a great reminder that often we are angry with God after our own choices, or when we feel he did or didn't do something we wanted. But we need to remember God allows free will but he will work all things together for good if we give it up to him - even our "mistakes". I know I have struggled with that...how can I be a true Chrisitian or help others when I have made certain mitakes...but God's grace allows us to be free of those guilts and live in the present :) Thank you again, I love everything you said!!
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