Silence Is Golden

I heard this song on the radio this morning and it spoke volumes to my heart.



Here are the words:
God loves a lullaby
In a mothers tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
God loves the drunkards cry,
The soldiers plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah.

The woman holding on for life,
The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
The tears of shame for what's been done,
The silence when the words won't come
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah
Better than a church bell ringing,
Better than a choir singing out,singing out.

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah

Better than a church bell ringing
better than a choir singin' loud
singin' loud

This is such a wonderful message. I think there are many messages in this actually, but the one I took this morning is humility. In our humility, God's might is shown to the world MUCH more loudly than when we stand on our chairs and bellow.

I am a visual person, so this is the picture God gave me this morning: I am much more encouraged and honored when I observe my child changing, maturing, making good choices over a period of time and without any attention seeking than I am when they say things like, "I am never going to ________ again." See, a momentary muster of courage to blurt out a wish is not nearly as evident of heart change as is the long-term girth that it takes to actually LIVE that change in your life. That is the evidence of growth and change. For all the loud AMENING we have the ability to do, I believe that the Lord is glorified MOST, when our very lives are in humble agreement with His word.

Does this sound familiar?

So, I am trying to be more accountable with my time. Part of my self-discipline training is that I need to get more done here at home- plain and simple. I need to do MORE laundry, MORE dishes, MORE of nearly everything. I do work in my home, really I do. However, I need to work MORE in order to live in the state of organization and cleanliness that I want and feel the Lord desires me to provide for my family. SO, I am working on it.

A friend and I decided to hold each other accountable for our time. GREAT IDEA, by the way. Each morning, we email each other a list of what we will be doing and around 8pm, we check in with each other via text. There is no judgment of lecture, no scrutinizing, just checking in. Yesterday was FANTASTIC. I accomplished most of my goals, but had a few I didn't get to. That's okay. My friend got 90% of hers completed also, so we were off to a great start. I promptly sent her my list for today and was ready to have another productive day.

Then, today happened.

By 7:30 am, a shelving unit that stores my entire set of "everyday" dishes and mugs TOPPLED OVER ON TOP OF MY 6 yr old SON!!! He was fine, but it scared us to death. I lost exactly HALF of all of my dishes, so now I technically don't have enough for our whole family to eat off of. HA! No big deal. Cooper was okay and that was truly all that mattered. I kept him home today just to make sure he was okay, because the case literally pinned him to the ground with his arms sticking out. It was absolutely frightening!

There went my morning.

Then, I got a phone call from some sweet friend of ours. Technically, I got the call from the husband of the pair and he was asking if I would watch their darling 9 month old, so he could have a "Mother's Day Redo". I literally said, "Uh-oh. Sure thing!" It was my joy to keep her and I am glad they got to have some time alone.

There went my afternoon.

Am I upset that I kept that sweet girl? No way. Did I finish my list? No way. Still, I ministered to my friends and I think there HAS to be time in our lives for that when the opportunity arises. Flexibility has long been a theme here and I think it is just oh-so-important! No matter how much you have to get done in a day, if you are so rigid that you can't overlook some of it to minister to someone who needs you, you are doing something wrong.

Now, I am getting off of this computer and going to clean the HORRENDOUSLY DIRTY bathrooms that I am COMPLETELY EMBARRASSED that my friends used while they were here. They are bad. I would post a picture, but I am afraid my blog would get an obscenity rating. Seriously folks, b-a-d. The funny thing is, I sent them to MY bathroom because I knew the children's bathroom was bad. THEN, I bathed the Littles in MY bathroom and saw how bad it was and nearly fell over that I had SENT them there. Sheesh. I am so happy that they are friends that love at all times.

(Sorry if that is TMI. You hear about all my good days. You should be able to hear about my scummy bathrooms too. Hehehe)

OH, and there is an ENTIRE BOX of Krispy Kreme doughnuts (Nathan ordered weeks ago from a neighbor who was raising money for a trip) sitting on my entertainment center that I have not touched and am planning to take to our staff at the church tomorrow morning. I don't even WANT one. Hows THAT for self-discipline?!?!?! word.

Practice what you preach

I cannot tell you how many times I will be in the middle of something and one of my children just walk up talking to me, as if I was just sitting there waiting for them to walk up and need something from me. It drives me BANANAS. Why? Because it is really selfish- as if the whole world is here waiting patiently for that child's next move. It says, "What I need/want is THE most important thing under Heaven, so I am going to force you to hear me RIGHT NOW while it is convenient for ME."

Today (during my Thursday walk with my Sista-friends), one of my sista-friends said, "We have to learn to not barge in on God." I immediately had a picture of God (bare with me) sitting at His big desk in the sky (stay with me) and me just barging in whenever it is convenient with whatever want/need/request/or affection I NEED to tell Him at whatever moment. How RUDE! It happens though.

Now, we can talk to God at any time and all day long, but OH what sweet time in prayer it is when we approach him with the respect and honor He so richly deserves. We need to come to God humbly, seeking His attention in His time and at His will. We should spend time in honor of him, praising Him, long before we give him our wish list of wants/needs. Our hearts should be bent towards the goal of leaving time with the Lord knowing that we honored Him during that time more than just completed a task.

I obviously cannot speak for the Lord, but I know when my children barge in on me I have a VERY difficult time even listening to them at all. Usually, they get sent back to where they came with instructions to try again later. YIKES!