A Day Off From Work

I had a day off of work on Friday, and the weather was absolutely beautiful! I decided to go to Skamania Lodge to spend some time with God, celebrating feeling so much better. I wanted to do my quiet time, go on a hike, and read a book. I always love sitting in the rocking chairs in front of the huge fireplace in the lodge. It was great to sit and listen to the fire and listen to some nice instrumental music. I'm reading a book called "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World." It is a great book about being close to God, rather than filling life up with "busyness." One part of the book talks about how God has created a hunger for him in every person. The author talks about how she was making a four-course dinner one evening when she was having company over but was so hungry before dinner that she decided to have a Snickers bar a little bit before dinner was ready. When it came time for dinner she wasn't even hungry and couldn't enjoy the meal that she had prepared! She shares this thought...."The Lord spoke to me at that moment. He showed me that we often fill our lives with spiritual Snickers bars--things like friends, books, and shopping. They may be good things, completely innocent things--but not when they take the edge off our hunger for God." She goes on to share, "I constantly fight the tendency to fill the God-shaped hole he created in me with fluffy stuff. I don't like loneliness, so I fill the space with phone calls and social events and trips to the mall, but loneliness can be God's call to talk to him. I don't like quietness, so I fill up the silence with sitcoms and talk shows...but it was in the quiet of the night that Samuel heard God's voice." I feel like God has really been teaching me over the past several months. I've been slowing waaaay down lately, and I'm doing so much better. I'm sleeping much better at night, and I have much more energy. I was going to bed around 8:30 every night because I was completely exhausted, but now I am not tired until around 9:30 or 10:00. Over the past two or three weeks, I feel like I'm back to my old self, and I couldn't be more grateful for feeling healthy and for getting to learn some incredible lessons along the way. I know there will be many, many more hard times and lessons to come, but it's reassuring to know that God always takes me through the hard times and helps to strengthen me along the way.