{day twenty eight} learning to appreciate the silence...

'We need to find God, and he cannot be found

in noise and restlessness.

God is the friend of silence.

See how nature - trees, flowers, grass-

grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun,

how they move in silence...

We need silence to be able to touch souls.'

Mother Teresa

With all the hustle and bustle of working a full time job and raising a toddler, I do not have many moments that are quiet.  There is always someone, something waiting on a response from me. 

But then, there are moments that I feel drawn to the quiet.  I feel the need to retreat inside myself.  To quiet down my words and thoughts.  To listen.

We are told there is a time to speak and a time to be quiet.

I struggle with this.  With the quiet.  With the silence.  With the absence of words.  I'm of the notion that there is always something to say.  Always.  Something.  Anything. 

As a natural people-person {or rather people-pleaser}, I'm prone to fill the silence with endless chatter.

Empty words to fill the void.  The quiet.  The silence.

There are times when my heart desires the need to quiet down.  Moments where I can close my lips and open my ears.  Open my heart.  Times when I can wait for Him to give me the words I need to respond in manner pleasing in His sight. 

Trust me, these times are usually few and far between.  But generally speaking, the times when I wait for Him to direct my words, are the times when He speaks the loudest to my heart. 

Today, I grateful for the silence.  I'm grateful for this moment when I don't have a lot to say.  I woke up this morning {after many punches to the snooze button} and felt the need to retreat inside my heart and open my ears.  He is speaking.  He is always speaking.  But most days, I'm too busy talking to bother with intently listening. 

This morning was different.  I felt the call to retreat.  The request to close my lips.  The need to quiet down for a bit.  The desire to listen.

Did you catch that?

The desire to listen.

A desire that outweighed my need to speak. 

'Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
    for my hope is in him.'

Psalm 62:5

Lips closed.  Heart wide open.  Ears trained.  Quietly waiting.  Ready to hear Him speak. 

And speak He will.  He always does.  I just have to appreciate the silence first.