Carving Out Quiet

We live in a loud busy world.

The moment our head lifts off the pillow, the grind of the day floods in. To-do lists, family lists, agendas, school sports, work meetings, work lists…etc. it is all there waiting for you when you wake up. And if you are a homeschooling family like ours, school curriculum and daily chores are there drumming their fingers waiting to begin.

Mornings have become one of my “me” times. It’s in the quiet and still of the morning that I emerge and prepare my day. It is tempting for me to want to grab my phone first thing and connect with the inter-webs and all the goings on that took place the 7 hours I was asleep. But the wee hours of the morning are set aside to fuel my day through scripture.

Is it easy to get up early before my kids? No. Of course not. I would much rather stay in my warm bed and sleep longer. However, like all things, creating good habits requires discipline. It requires making that thing a priority.

I don’t want to be lazy in my faith. Letting my faith sit on a shelf to collect dust does nothing for me. It would then just become a belief, because beliefs require no action. I can believe in something and do absolutely nothing about that belief. Faith is the opposite. Faith requires action (James 2). Action in how I care for my faith, how I live it out, how I profess it, what I do with it… the list goes on and on. Faith needs to be fed and fueled. And the ONLY way my faith will be truly fueled in Truth (yes, big “T”) is through the Word of God. Through reading and absorbing God’s word. Period. It keeps me on track. Shows me the way I should go. It leads and guides my steps.

It can be hard to carve out quiet. If you have a full house, you know this to be difficult. Someone is always in your space. Someone always needs something. But like all good habits, it requires discipline to create. It requires diligence from everyone. But carve it out. It is important. There is a reason Jesus got away from the loud busy world and spent time with God the Father. When Jesus spoke the words, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny himself and take up his cross…” He didn’t say “once,” He said “daily.” (Luke 9:23) Daily.

We live in a loud busy world. But it isn’t too loud and it isn’t too busy to spend time with the Creator of the Universe.

1 John 2:6 says“Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.” And for this reason, I get up and carve out quiet.