No Separation Anxiety

Are there days when you feel as if your head is spinning with all the distractions calling for your attention?  Wait don't answer that....I already know your answer.  

Yes, I have those times. It's the consequences of living in the midst of all this web-driven commotion.  There's an art to being still before God, to quiet myself enough to enjoy the presence of God. I want to talk with Him and hear what He wants to tell me.  

I am so desperate to hear from God in many areas. 

One challenge for me is the "multiple hats" syndrome. I'm a mom, a mentor, wife, missionary, writer, employee, volunteer, confidant and friend.  So many things to do . . . and so little time to do it all.  As one whose work requires many hours each day at a computer and on the Internet, I find myself in the midst of this neurological challenge. Yet, the desire of my heart is to be so attuned with my Father that I hear Him when He wants to teach me,  reveal to me, comfort me or guide me.  

I don't believe the answers are easy.  

If I don't attend to the desire in my heart to spend time with God . . . God will get squeezed out and my life will remain wanting. He'll be there waiting . . . but I won't be there with Him to receive.

More than ever before - in the random noise of this time - daily quiet time with God is essential for my life of faith; a time when we can step out of "the world" and into the peace of God. Paul writes describes himself as a "bondservant" of Jesus Christ, called to the devotion that He wrote about.  Separated from the world around him, devoted to Christ.  Separated to the gospel, separated for the gospel of God.

Paul devoted his life to solitude with Christ.  Romans 1:1

Clearly, we need to be separated from the world in some ways, so we can live the life He wants for us and so He can show Himself to us and through us. So as we find our way on the super-highway of technology, little changes and little steps can make a big difference. Not watching so much television, setting up a daily time in the Word and for prayer, simplifying our lives and just not doing "so much." 

Solitude....Separates.

We can carve out that sacred separated time and meet with the One who loves, cares, creates, and (get this mind-blowing fact).... craves our time with Him.

It's worth the risk of separation from this world to invite Him into mine.

Five Minute Friday [Friends]

Friends

Can you ever have too many?  Most are true blue.  

A friend loves you like a brother or a mother.

Friends give of themselves to encourage and build up.  

Really dear friends will sit with you at the back of the bus on mission trips, 

even when they don't feel like it.

Best of friends will always stay connected even if they move away.

Friends surprise you on your birthday with a bunch of flowers because

 they remember it's a special day.

Friends are lifelines and only a text away.  

Someone you can pray with, cry with, laugh with, and be quiet with.

Friends hug and feed you dinner even if it is macaroni and cheese.  

A friend gives grace.

A friend will understand when you say..."pray" with no questions asked.

A true believer friend will bring you a Sonic drink "just because".

A friend will do all your math equations... and help you with hard things.

Strangers travel together and return friends. 

The bond of friendship is hard to break, especially when heart stories are exchanged.

Some friends are instant, some must be cultivated. 

"Friends are friends forever if the Lord is Lord of them"