The quiet

by Sharon O | Jul 22, 2010 | Uncategorized

“In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” Psalm 5:3

In the quiet of the morning…
the start of a new day…
There are choices to make
to walk, to read, to pray, to write, to rest more.

I am beginning to enjoy the quiet of the morning.
There is no TV, no music from the radio… nothing but quiet.

In the quiet I can hear the soft whisper of God.
In the quiet I can allow the struggles of my heart to be real.
In the quiet I can TRUST that HE who began a good work in me will complete it…
In the quiet I become new and restored.

Before the day starts in the quiet of the morning…
I wait with expectation.
Lord do your good work… teach me and show me all that I need…
to be still and KNOW that YOU are God.

Home

by Sharon O | Jul 20, 2010 | Uncategorized

I love being home…
Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind going away for a while for short trips.
But in reality I am a home body.
I will stay home before I will rush out and leave.
Especially since semi retirement has been a part of my ‘life’. This last year has been life changing and different. It has taught me to slow down, and pace myself. It has been good.
The new comfort zone is safe and peaceful.

We went on a canoe trip a few days ago.
It was a new experience for me… I don’t know how to swim and the water scares me.
Years ago we went with some of the same people but it seemed like the adventurous spirit that was with me back then some 30 years ago was gone.
This time I had new fears.
I could feel them close whispering their ‘chattering voices in my ears.’
The older I have gotten it seems that fears are often a part of my life.
Often times prayers are sent up …
“OH GOD protect us… Oh God give me a still quiet heart… Oh God send your angels… Oh God help me feel calm and peaceful.”
Arrow prayers sent up quickly to save the moment so peace and calm can quiet my anxious heart.
The canoe trip was nice once we were settled in the water…
as I sat on the hard seat the words to myself were… “BREATHE IN and BREATHE out…
Listen to the birds…feel the air and the soft wind…breathe.
Take hold of the boat and let the guide behind you do the work.”

It was actually peaceful once the canoe was floating and following the water.
The air was fresh… the wind gentle… we saw 4 bald eagles.
They were beautiful and majestic and so serene as they sat perched upon the trees branch.
There were deer along the waters edge…
mommy ducks with their babies swimming right next to our canoes.
It was very peaceful once I let go of the ‘what if this happens’ thought process.
God blessed us with safety and nothing went wrong.
It was fun and the fellowship with the others who went with us was good.
(The mosquitoes could have been out of the scene bug bites are no fun to deal with. We all came home with many).
Next year my husband said we will have a motor home for the tent camping days are over for me. I can truly say I have “BEEN there and DONE that.”
It was my last effort to go and do what my husband enjoys. As we were packing up to leave I looked at him in the freezing morning chill and said while holding onto my hot cup of coffee, “I deserve my good sport medal.”
The morning air temp was below freezing.

Next year a motor home will be our ‘home away from home’ with a furnace and fresh water and a bathroom with shower. A warm comfortable bed with flannel blankets.
We will go again since I really don’t mind going now.
But next year it will be in our home away from home.

A few questions for you

by Sharon O | Jul 14, 2010 | Uncategorized

God is our hiding place…
Psalm 46: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”

Dictionary.com says refuge means shelter or protection from danger or trouble. We really need to grasp how tangible this hiding place is for us. I am not saying we need to hide from responsibilities or relationships. Sometimes it just means to hide from the ‘world’ news, the events of the day to day routines that we all get ourselves pulled into.
If one would sit down and take note and view the world and all that is happening around us there would be reason for a deep depression or even fear.

The flip side of that is God is a refuge. OUR REFUGE ~ OUR strength.

We do not need to be overwhelmed or rattled by the days events.
We can run to the one who holds us up.
Many years ago we had a CD I believe it was by Maranatha song company and the name of the song was ‘You are my hiding place.’

You are my hiding place
You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance
whenever I am alone
I will trust in YOU
I will trust in YOU
Let the weak say I am strong
In the strength of the Lord… I will trust in you

Trust…. a word that might not be easy for some to say.
Dictionary.com says trust: the reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety in a person or thing; confidence.
Confident expectation of something; hope.
A person on whom or thing on which one relies: God is my trust.
To rely upon or place confidence in someone or something; hope.
Trust implies instinctive unquestioning belief in and reliance upon something.
Firm reliance on the integrity, ability or character of a person.

Do you get it yet?
Real trust in an almighty God who protects us and keeps us from harm brings safety.
We have a refuge. A hiding place.
A place of protection and peace. A secure resting place.

We need to ask the questions deep within ourselves.
Who are we trusting and where is our hope resting?
Can we say from our hearts “You are my hiding place” to a God who loves and wants the best for us?
I challenge us all to be honest and spend time with Him today.

Someone to listen

by Sharon O | Jul 13, 2010 | Uncategorized

The journey…
between vulnerability and realness has been slow for me.
I am by nature a private person.
And to share matters of the heart is only for one or two generally.
It took me years to even get to that point.
I have a good friend whom I am very open with and also my husband.
To share what was written in the last ‘blog’ was really hard.
I hesitated and wanted to delete it …change it and make it more ‘pleasing’ to read. Then I remembered my mantra for the year to be honest and real and share more openly.
Not so open that I hurt someone or risk being too ‘harsh’ or risk being too transparent.

The last blog was pretty transparent and very personal and that was my hesitation.
Some people don’t need to know your ‘heart’ condition today. Like the person who casually says, “How are you?” not really expecting you to go through a year’s story. They are being casual in a question and just want you to say, “I’m fine thank you.”
But sometimes we have to really say what is on our heart.
I hope for all of us that we have one person in our life who we can unzip the shell of the wounding of our heart and share openly and honestly without worry of their reactions.
Someone to just listen to us and to empathize and pray with us through our heart hurt.
Not judging our feelings but just listen.
I looked up the word friend in the Bible and there were 172 references to the word.
So it is important for us to have a ‘friend’ a confidant and a listening ear when our hearts are hurting. It is not good or healthy to keep in inside yourself.
My challenge today is: How real are your friendships?
Is there someone in your life with whom you can share openly and honestly?
If there isn’t anyone why not?
I pray that we all can experience the wonderful sharing of a good friend.