Listening for the Quiet

Five Minute Friday

The Word: QUIET

A weekly challenge by Lisa-Jo Baker. We all write about 1 word for five minutes.

Unedited. Just thoughts.

Ready?

GO










In order to write about the word "quiet," I had to first go into my room and lock my bedroom door, warning the kids that I needed five minutes alone.


Even with the solitude, I can hear the clicking of my keys. The hum of the construction workers across the street. My son is right now asking, "Mommy?" Apparently a locked, shut door doesn't keep out questions and requests and urgent needs that only mommy can meet.


There isn't a lot of quiet at our house. Home Schooling involves spinning a lot of plates in the air at the same time, hoping they don't crash to the ground.


My best times of "quiet" are when I wake up before the kids and spend time with God. I'd love to say that I eagerly jump out of bed, slip on my robe, and glide to the couch with a smile across my face.


No.


Most mornings I hit the snooze a few times and then roll out of bed with a thud.


I love the quiet times. It's just the first 2 minutes of getting out of a warm bed that are killer.


"Mommy?" There he is again.


Focus, Becky. Focus.


I try and remember that in a few short years, my house will be very quiet. The kids will be grown. There will be no "mommy" through the door. No giggles down the hallway. No squeals of laughter from the trampoline outside. No questions. No read aloud books. No clamber of this or that.


The quiet times will come.


For now, I'll unlock my door and listen. To their questions. To their tears. Even to their fights and screams and complaints.

And I'm learning that even in the midst of the noise, my spirit can be quiet within me, at rest, as I listen moment by moment for that still small voice.

Shhhhhhhh