Solitary
I don’t know how many posts I’ve started over the years with “It’s been a long time since I’ve…”, but I’m sure the number isn’t a small one. Tonite, for the first time in I’m not sure how long, I decided to jump into my Beth Moore study of John. Apparently, after over a year of owning my copy of the study, I’m on day 9. That isn’t very encouraging. However, despite the break, and my distracted state, it gave me food for thought. In Mark 1:35-39, some of Christ’s companions find him praying in an isolated place and quickly inform him that people are looking for him. I got to thinking, how would I react to finding Jesus in a quiet place, praying? Regardless of why I had been looking for him. Today, if I were to happen upon him, I think I might beg for him to teach me how to do that – how to find a quiet place – how to pray – how to focus. To be honest, I suppose I would probably do as those in the Bible did… rush into fulfilling their plans. It is what we seem to do best. One of my goals lately is to spend more time in a solitary place, just me and God. Time to feed on his word, drink in the wisdom, and pray – maybe even time to listen. I find myself surfing my favorite Christian website for new studies to read, new books to delve into, new distractions… but never just digging into the Word or the studies that I have. I am praying, tonite, that God will help me refocus my priorities. I could make the excuse that my family and responsibilities take up that time, but I’d be exhagherating. Surely, I make choices daily and a few minutes here and there with God are totally do-able. In fact, they would probably be an incredible help in my life.
About the family and associated responsibilities… I am now 21 weeks pregnant and Baby Girl is not quite as mellow as I had initially predicted. She tosses and turns and kicks and punches all through the night, as her older brother did during his stay in the mommy hotel. She also continues her acrobatics throughout the day and I feel as though I am growing at a ridiculous rate. I don’t feel as though I’m laying on the pounds of fat, which I am grateful for, but I do feel as though I look farther along than I “should.” Meanwhile, we’ve had family visit and more family coming soon, so life has been anything but boring. My big boy is back to sleeping in our bedroom, which has proven to be a little detrimental to my sleep quality (compared to not having children) but much more beneficial to our family’s overall sleep schedule – so… it will have to work for now. His toddler bed (3 sided crib) sits at the foot of our bed, with a blanket tied over it as a canopy to block the main light from his face. Thankfully, he’s become a heavier sleeper than in his early days and manages to sleep through our bedtime routines, my reading and hubby’s working on his computer. I’m beginning to appreciate the seemingly oversized master bedroom as the day is quickly approaching when we’ll have a bassinet beside the bed as well. I honestly never saw this coming!
In other words, life is going well. Little man is a joy and I am blessed to be able to stay at home with him. Baby Girl is growing well and we’re anxious to meet her. The holidays are coming and life is staying fairly busy. Though we haven’t found a new home church in our area, I’m determined to get back to some one on one time with God and keeping priorities straight. So many blessings! The challenges are challenging, but the promises that God has for us are so much greater!
