It all started with a nap. Friday afternoon, I lay down beside the clean clothes piled on my bed, and the next thing I knew, Sarah was waking me up and knocking on my bedroom door. "Mom, I'm home! I'm gonna jump in the shower now." I groggily asked her if it was already 4:30, and she assured me that it was. Since we had company coming at 5:00, I hopped up refreshed, and headed to the kitchen to prepare pizza with the last of the pepperoni from the States. After good food and good fellowship, our sweet company walked home, we all jumped quickly into bed.
I slept for nine hours and woke up refreshed and ready to tackle the day. Aaron drove over to help with flood cleanup east of Honiara, the kids all went outside to play, and I had several hours to ponder the silence in my house. I cooked and washed clothes and cooked some more while listening to some of Mozart's piano concerti. The silence amazed me. I had forgotten what it was like to be able to think and pray and ponder uninterrupted.
My wonderful chaos returned for lunch and continued as we welcomed more company for an afternoon of fun game playing and an evening of good food. But sleep and silence reminded me that their place in my life holds great importance.
"Do you remember the story of Elijah? He was so tired that he wanted to give up. He told the Lord that he just couldn't go on. The Lord didn't discourage him further by lecturing him on his faults and failures, but He sent an angel to fix him something to eat and then told him to get a good night's sleep! Satan would love to persuade us when we are worn-out, exhausted, or at the end of our physical resources that it is a spiritual problem when in reality it is a purely physical one."
~Ruth Bell Graham & Gigi Graham Tchivdjian
No comments:
Post a Comment