What I need to hear often

James 4:8 "Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; for your loyalty is divided between God and the world."

We live in a noise rich community of sounds. In fact, when there is silence, sometimes it's freaky and weird. Most of us can't handle silence because we are so conditioned to hear something.

In the silence we have to listen closely to what's not there, or what we are trying to hear intently.

It's in the whispers, that we hear God. And there are times when only our spirits can hear what He is trying to tell us.

The Spirit has a language all His own.

When God placed His dream for me on my heart it was something I knew was right because I was prepared to "hear" it. I think about the times we often miss the directions that God has for us because we want it to make sense and want to know all the details first before we believe that our dreams are possible.

So how do you hear clearly what God wants to say? It starts in your heart.

Having a relationship with Jesus is first and foremost. He is our Designer and He has patterned you with your unique, only for you, inmost parts. Once you have given your heart over, fully, then your mind follows. When you incline your heart, your soul, and your mind to God. then, your spirit is ready to listen to the voice of God. It's like having an unseen hand on your car radio volume control. As the noise of the world diminishes, God's whispers are loud and clear.

I was once asked if God's voice was audible and how I knew for sure God speaks? Like He only spoke to those Old Testament Bible gurus. You have to know His words to recognize them as right and true. You have to talk to Him like the Friend that He is. You have be still and guard your mind to listen intently.

God speaks today.

You have to get real before God, so you can hear Him speak from His heart of love for you. What I need most is to hear the love God has for me. His love speaks continually and it's the only love that matters. When you turn down the volume of the world, you can hear it too.

Why does the world seem so loud? As we know from raising children, the loudest gets the most attention. God's voice of truth silently speaks love in my life. You say you've never heard God speak? It doesn't have to be an audible sound,

I encourage you with this this: Your inmost being knows the sound of the Lord. God is a speaking Spirit. I know ...I just talked to Him.

What are you listening to the most?

If only for a little while to linger longer

Perhaps you are like me and wish you could turn back the hands of time.  I love how God brings back those family snapshots of thoughts at just the right time.  My daughter is a mom once again.  She is an awesome mom, I wasn't worried.  Like most moms she would do anything her children for the sake of loving them well.  

It's hard to see that you're nurturing and speaking life into young hearts at 2 a.m.  We do it because we love them so much.  We moms, just do.  It doesn't surprise me, that inner strength we get when we have to wipe one more bottom or clean up sticky lollipop goop out of daddy's nice dress shirt pocket.  It doesn't surprise me when life finds us on our bottoms mopping the floor for the fourth time today. 

It doesn't surprise me that when you put a little 3-year-old in the corner on his time out stool, and he responds with a "Mom, can we pray about this?"  (Okay, that one surprised me a little)   As a mom, we didn't sign up for a life of cleaning up after you and your dog.  We certainly didn't think that each and every time we went to the restroom we would find the toilet paper holder empty...again.  

There were many re-starts in our married lives too.  We gather our courage, our teddy bears and spend a wedding anniversary cleaning a rent house across from strangers.  We celebrate our love by cleaning spider webs out of the kitchen corners making new memories for sake of it. 

One year, as a young mom myself, I was driving down main memory lane.  I was feeling a little homesick for my mom that day, even with my two little kiddos in the car.  I looked in my rear view mirror and thanked God I wasn't alone in that strange and unfamiliar place.  Long love months of yearning brought a lot of restoration, that's what love does.  What surprises me was how love got me, our family through life's loveless days.  Loving each other as a family brought us through many of changes that year.

My son learned how to walk and eat cat food.  I learned mothering because my kids needed one all the while missing mine.  We all learned how to garden, moo at cows, love in play and how to swing outside.  My daughter learned how to color happiness for us. 

My husband learned to live without his dad.  I learned how to discipline and disciple love.  Sheer panic taught me peace in a playful round of hide and seek, only to find my son content inside the pot and pans cabinet.  Urgent Care clinic doesn't take holidays.  A cut doesn't always require stitches when an iron accidentally falls.  Don’t be surprised that when a child spills out of a crib, he bounces.

What surprises me, when I recall all these memories of adversity, even though they we some of the most difficult, we learned to love and how to be a loving family.  Mothering is hard to see in those lack luster, mundane Mondays. 

God always speaks to my heart a little love messages like this..."They're only yours for a little while, " His message would only mother them a short time until He brought them their own families to love.

It was in those difficult days, in teaching love, and I learned family love, a deep endearing love.  Love is like that, it binds us together … still.  After many years of more loving through change, crisis, cancer, and more love-cares than I can shake a stick at, I consider how our lives are only ours to have in our hands for a little while, until it's time to sing love songs to our Savior. 

If only for a little while, can we so love each other in today like it’s our last?  If I had the chance to love differently, well, I would do it all again, and let love win bigger and linger more in it.  Our lives are too short to walk away from moments that make you smile more, sing louder and learn to love well.