Taking Time

I had an early morning appointment yesterday, and decided to stop the local coffee shop and get a white peppermint hot chocolate. As I walked through, I was observing the people in there, who all looked stressed out. They had their phones in their ears, and were on their laptops, none of whom would return smiles when given to them. It made me think about how we are such a society that drowns in noise and busyness. I am just as guilty! I always have my phone with me and for this past month, we received free Vcast, so I've been checking my email and facebook while I am out and about. I also thought how as a society, we have little downtime, very little time of absolute quiet. No wonder we feel so stressed out! I know I struggle with absolute quiet. It becomes deafening to me, and I almost always have music or some type of noise in my life. Even though it was an extremely foggy morning, I had taken my camera with me. I decided to take the opportunity for some down time, which I haven't done for awhile, and just go for a drive and take some pictures. As I headed to the lake, I decided to turn off the music in the car, and just be quiet for a bit. The freezing fog was lifting, and leaving beautiful frozen sculptures as it disappeared.




The further I went along the lake, the more beautiful the sun was shining. I decided to get out and walk a little bit, even though it was 29 degrees. I put my dog on her leash, and we enjoyed a nice walk. Even though there was a lot of traffic, I decided to drown it out with the sound of geese flying overhead, and birds singing away as they welcomed the sunshine. I started to look around and notice the ducks swimming in the lake, the beauty of the sun shining on the large cottonwood trees, and the more I started to take the noise and busyness out of my head, the more I noticed the intricate details of creation that surrounded me. Have you ever really looked at how detailed the bark of a tree is and notice how much time God put into designing something so simple as a tree? Does that tell you anything about how much more lovingly we are designed since we are made in His image? The more I walked, the more designs I saw and I thanked God for taking time to make creation so beautiful.






























Further down the road, I stopped again to watch the sun dance off the thin ice covering on the water. I started to listen, and the noise coming from the water sounded like a very loud whisper of a bunch of voices. The more I listened, the louder it became. It was an awesome sound, and I thought how cool it was that God was in the details once again. I just sat and listened for awhile, enjoying the noise of creation.














As I experienced the sights and sounds God put before me in that hour I was at the lake, I thanked Him for prompting me to enjoy some down time, as it's really what I needed for a little soul refresher. I was not worshipping creation, but the Creator who made all the beautiful sights and sounds for us to enjoy. Unfortunately, I have been running too much, and haven't taken the time to enjoy all He has given me.



Take some time to escape the noise. Leave behind the phone, the computer, and the ipod, and just listen, really listen, and be quiet. I know it can take some trying to really quiet your mind, but once you do, you will be amazed at how loud God is through His creation.