Thursday, October 22, 2009

Finding God in Silence

Over the past 3 days I have spent a lot of time in silence. It's hard for me to do this as the world is just filled with clutter. We constantly surround ourselves with noise. We listen to iPods, watch television, we surround ourselves with friends, listen to the radio while driving. There is constant clutter. At school I have found so much peace in just shutting off music or the television and just finding listening to God. On the way home from school last night, I was listening to the radio and the music was just cluttering my mind, so I rode the last 45 minutes in silence. It was so good to just talk with God in silence. Though maybe I did not receive any answers, I was able to just talk with God and it was so good. It allowed me to get frustration out, and to just tell God verbally my feelings. Sure I know He knows my heart, but it's always good to say it out loud.
Today I went for a nice, somewhat hard run. This is where I find God the most. At one time I liked running with my iPod, but lately I have left it behind and have just used running as a way to talk with God and find silence. A little before the halfway point of my run, a light rain started. I absolutely love running in the rain. It is the best feeling in the world. The silence is so good, as I'm more observant of the creation around me and I'm just more in awe of God. It gives me a chance to listen to God and also just talk with Him.
I've tried to be more consistent in my time with God and make sure that I'm making time for Him, and over this past week, I have learned so much. I challenge everyone to just find more time in silence, and just listening to God. It can be hard, cause we want to always be doing something, or find it uncomfortable to be in silence, but it is so peaceful to have silence and it allows God to show you so much. Take joy in just being able to spend one-on-one time with our Father in Heaven.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

God's Guidance!

So much happens in just a month's time. It's hard to even remember everything that has transpired over the past month. It's been a good semester of school to this point, and the workload has finally started to pick up. I really am learning a lot in my education classes and really have been improving in areas that have been points of weakness as far as teaching.
Last week I found myself sick with the swine flu, so I went home and missed three days of classes, so I'm trying to get completely caught up from that. This whole semester has been full of good experiences and I have found myself in many new situations.
These new situations have caused some confusion for me though. Trying to seek out where God wants me to be for my future has been hard. I feel like I know God's call and I have felt confirmation from many different areas regarding this circumstance. I don't understand a lot of things right now. I don't even completely know where I am at right now, or what I should do. I know what I feel, but I don't know if this is personal desires or if this truly is something from God. At points I feel completely at peace with everything, knowing God is in control. At other points though, I know that God provides opportunities for us and that we have to take the next step. It's hard to know when the time is right to take the step or if patience is needed and to just wait.
So where to next? One thing thing that I have been lacking is a consistent prayer life and reading of the word. In fact even a existence of this would be nice. I struggle so much to take time away from my day to really meditate on what God has for me. So as it is time to decide which way I should go, I'm trying to dedicate my time to prayer and listening to Him. Pray for me over the next two weeks as I listen for God's guidance and direction. I need clarity of mind and to just open my heart up completely to Him and allow Him to mold me. I thank you all again for the support of me and all the encouragement that I have received over the year. Thanks so much! God bless!