Time to be Still

Fall container garden by me and my green thumb



The lyrics from If I Could Save Time In A Bottle
by Jim Croce (1972) came to mind today. Remember?

If I could save Time in a bottle

The first thing that I'd like to do

Is to save every day'

til Eternity passes away

Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever

If words could make wishes come true

I'd save every day like a treasure and then,

Again, I would spend them with you

But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you want to do

Once you find them

I've looked around enough to know

That you're the one I want to go

Through time with

If I had a box just for wishes

And dreams that had never come true

The box would be empty

Except for the memory

Of how they were answered by you

But there never seems to be enough time

To do the things you want to do

Once you find them

I've looked around enough to know

That you're the one I want to go

Through time with

Well, we can't save time in a bottle, but I do agree that there never seems to be enough time to do the things we want to do. Since I left the crazed teaching profession, I admit I have a lot more time. (and a lot less money)

With this time, I have re-discovered hobbies I had forgotten about. I really love to read, write, bake, exercise sometimes, rock a baby (Malli, of course) and I enjoy playing around with photography. I also discovered something else I really enjoy ... I am crazy about container gardening! (see one of my first projects above ... one with a Fall flair, complete with orange mums - yet to bloom, and orange gerbera daisies) It was so much fun!

I guess being officially unemployed, approaching broke, seeking a job, (oh - please send me your suggestions for what I can be when I grow up) yet, delightfully tied down keeping my first grandchild during the day has caused me to look at life a little differently. Today I feel extremely blessed to have this time ... this season. There is always plenty to do around here and I am never bored but I am learning to 'be still,' for a change. I am actually discovering the joy in doing nothing for at least half an hour a day...even is it means getting up earlier than I like. Time to truly 'be still.'

I read somewhere that a pond cannot reflect an image unless it is still. Hmm ...I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Psalms 46:10 says, Be still, and know that I am God." How will I reflect His image if I don't take advantage of the time I have to 'be still?' There's always plenty of possible activity, but what about just getting quiet and reverent before God, my Father? Getting to know Him. I am finding it an absolute essential for my journey that I make time for this silence, this stillness. Not praying, saying, writing, or reading anything. Just still and silent in His presence.

"Your silent actions will speak much louder than your words and will move you closer to His heart." -Woodrow Kroll