"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."~from ISAIAH 61 Bible verse for this Blog

APOLOGY to READERS who followed a SEARCH to HERE & didn't find it

On July 18, 2017, I drafted almost 3000 blog posts that I had published since 2008 when I began blogging, rather than edit each one. So if you clicked here from somewhere else and ended up with the post unavailable or error, I am sorry but this is why. It'd be too much work for me to go back and fix them. There's an explanation on 7/19/17 as I'm still learning.

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

EMBRACING SILENCE

I guess I should have shared this before the day that it starts
which is today - sorry, I'm late

October 1st

Image may contain: 1 person, text 

through
October 5th
{but it's been done before and hopefully will again, 
however, you could do this anytime and continue...}



This challenge is with Sheila Walsh's devotional bundle through FaithGateway

YouVersion also has 5 day reading plans:


  • 5 MINUTES WITH JESUS: MAKING TODAY MATTER
  • 5 MINUTES WITH JESUS: PEACE FOR TODAY
  • 5 MINUTES WITH JESUS: A FRESH INFUSION OF JOY
  • 5 MINUTES WITH JESUS: QUIET TIME FOR YOUR SOUL

Day 1

...when you sign-up, you receive free downloads, one of which includes:

"Quiet Time Strategies and Prayer"

and
midway through this pdf
I read this:

"... Embracing Silence ...

"First we need to get comfortable with the silence! For just a few minutes each day, unplug. Turn off anything that makes background noise. You might be surprised how threatening it feels at first! If it helps ease your mind, set a timer and remind yourself that it is very unlikely that anything will occur in that five minutes that cannot wait. Then take a few deep breaths, and sit quietly with God. Read a psalm. Say a prayer. Sing a hymn or song of praise. Read a devotional like one of those in the 5 Minutes with Jesus series. How you spend your time with God is up to you!" ...


the rest of this is just as valuable

HOWEVER

I pause with those first words

EMBRACING SILENCE

even when I try

my mind

does

NOT

my mind needs to be rewired
to learn to stop 
any whirring
of
thoughts
and
noises
{both exterior and interior}
to be void and quiet to listen
to hear the small
whispers
of
God
and
BE STILL

it's quite the struggle for me
and
a real learning process

I spend much time trying to be in silence
and unlike others; it's not the phone or tv or social media
that disrupts my silence

I won't even try to explain the details of all this personal deal
but the first devotion by Sheila Walsh
in another free download of
5 days of Quiet Time devotions
to get started
with perfect words


which of course, is about those other sounds

You might think that being a person
with newly discovered hearing loss
and 
learning to get accustom to my
hearing aides
mainly
to train my brain
I am keenly aware of sounds

Many times I take them out
with the hope of not hearing sounds
but it doesn't work

Upon first learning of my hearing loss,
I thought I would treasure all noises
and be grateful that I can still hear
even without using them
but it's a matter of
retraining your brain as to what sounds
are important to hear and those that you don't need
{like hearing myself chew or my dog's nails on the floor}

So
I am trying to
EMBRACE
SILENCE

and
plan to get away from home alone
later this week until a special day next week
{actually for this day to make it special for me}
going up north
with the
cold
not as enjoyable
but
I was hoping to capture the
fall colors and nature
with
God

so
I'll be taking my bundle of
Quiet Time
with me

Since I am in the habit of spending my waking moments
with
Jesus
in the quiet of the morning
and
ending with His Word & Him
in the evening
this is not the part that is the challenge for me

{I do know however that this challenge is for me (and you) if you let it}

Hope you can find some
Quiet and Rest
in the days ahead
also

Peace be with you
in
Jesus Christ

Noise Pollution {5 Minutes with Jesus} | Sheila Walsh




To my faithful visitors;
all of you who spend your valuable time here with me
I do appreciate you so much!

Thank you for taking your time to visit!

Love, Sweet blessings & Hugs!

DIOS TE BENDIGA
GOD BLESS YOU

always

Peggy