Slow It Down Cowgirl!

As I awoke from a short, but deep sleep this morning, I agreed with God that I'd slow life down a bit and said, "Ok, the next post will be called Slow It Down Cowgirl!" So there you go and here it is...even if you're not a cowgirl.

Several years ago I actually had a blog called Live Slow. I wrote it as a reminder to myself every day, that while life may seem like it's flying by, I don't need to match the pace. You see, when I try to go faster than a speed that's comfortable for me, I end up missing out on quality time with Him.

Quality is the operative word.

I have a quiet time every single morning, but most times the quality comes when I'm going about my daily activities as a wife and mother. In fact, many of my most poignant interactions with God happen as I wash clothes, weed the flower garden, or make the beds.

God reveals himself to me in the mundane chores of life.

I almost never hear Him when I'm in a rush. I never hear him when I'm yelling at my kids to find their freakin' shoes so we're not tardy (again). I never hear Him when I'm trying to cram four errands into an hour.

He most often reveals Himself to me in the quiet things of life and that happens best when I live slow on purpose. Being slow takes practice and patience - lots and lots of it - but some of the most significant times of growth have come when I committed myself to this discipline.

If you're interested in giving it a shot, John Ortberg has an entire section on slowing down in his book, The Life You've Always Wanted, spiritual disciplines for ordinary people. It's a great read.

Wishing you a super slow weekend!

The Discipline of Sitting

Is there such a thing as the discipline of sitting?

A friend just asked me, "So. Are you starting to feel like Erika again?" In a way...but that's not the best thing because Erika has a problem sitting down. It's not like a disorder or anything, it's just that I'm active and I like to get things done.

Right now, because of the hysterectomy, I HAVE to be sitting down. Or laying down (for the most part). But man it's hard! I don't know how people do it really.

                                                         I feel like her

My back is killing me. Parts of my butt are killing me. Even my head is killing me but I don't know why. I can't get comfortable and I know I need to rest because whenever I start to "do too much", which let me tell you is NOT much at all, my guts start to ache and that is definitely not a good thing.

The funny thing is that writers sit. A lot. In my quest and desire to be a writer, one of my pastors even prayed over me, "Dear Lord, help her to sit at the keyboard and serve you in the way you called her."
He checked up on me the other day and asked me what I'd been doing. I told him "lots of sitting".

Oh well...I guess it's the same with all discipline:

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  Hebrews 12:11

Practice Reading the Bible

When we read The Bible, we're literally reading God's word. I heard someone describe it as "God's love letter to us" and that's exactly what it is. However, when we read, we're prone to thinking that it's all about us. We search the scriptures for things we can apply to our lives or circumstances and turn the focus inward.

The next time you sit down with your Bible to read, do it in a different way:

• Find a quiet place where you are totally undistracted.
• Thank God for the privilege of reading His word.
• Ask Him for wisdom and understanding.
• Read a short passage.
• Read the same passage again - this time out loud.
• Meditate on it - this means, think about God and His attributes.
• Write it on an index card and read it several times a day.
• Keep the focus on Him, where it rightly belongs.

Here's a scripture to get you started:

The LORD is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
The LORD is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works.

       Psalm 145:8-9