Me, Listening (Why We Blog, Part II)
This is the second installment in the “Why We Blog” series. If you would like to participate by writing your own “Why We Blog” post, let me know via the “Contact Me” link or in the comments. I’ll link to you here at Getting Down With Jesus.
***
In the stillness, I watched morning’s blue light swallow dim corners of my living room.
This is my quiet time. This is when I listen for God speaking.
Blanket in tow, Anna crept up the stairs and curled her pajama-ed body next to mine in the recliner.
She spoke in a whisper: “This is the right thing to do today.” I smiled, not knowing what the “right thing” meant to her — but knowing what it meant to me just then. I closed the Bible; God was still speaking.
I listened.
“The power is going to go out soon,” I whispered to the child pressing in. “We won’t have any lights, or TV, or computer for a while.”
Yes, this was “the right thing to do.” We waited — mother and child, listening.
A crew from the electric company was in the front yard, out by the highway, making the final adjustment on a switch from overhead power lines to underground power. They had trenched in a line through the ditch. For a while, we would be powerless while the transition was made.
A transition from Power,
held high on cross-shaped beams
… to Power, trenched in.
Just like my faith …
From the mountaintop awe of a woman who first realized her need for a Savior …
And then faith, dug in deep.
Still in desperate need of the Power source, I am.
But in my house, power was about to go out. I put lips to child’s ear: “Our house will be really quiet, won’t it?”
“It is already quiet, Mommy,” she whispered.
We listened.
“But it’s not really quiet yet. Can’t you hear all the noises?” I asked. There was the house fan, the radio humming in my bedroom, the click-click of clothes tumbling in the dryer. “Just wait. Soon there will be no noise at all.”
Anna added this: “We have to listen for the quiet. You have to be really quiet to listen for the quiet.”
And so we listened. At once, it happened.
Radio shushed. Fan stopped. Dryer silenced.
Inhale, exhale.
Inhale, exhale.
God speaking; child and I listening for the quiet.
***
And that is why I blog: To listen for the quiet.
What would I have missed had I not been listening? I think I would have missed the treasure hunts, and sunflower deliveries, and the beauty of a scar. I think I would have missed a lot, because I was rarely slowing enough to listen …
My blogging friend, the talented Billy Coffey, describes his blog like this: “Surely there is something to learn each day. Some new truth, however small. All you need is a little effort, a little time, and a lot of attention. So this is me, paying attention…”
And here at GDWJ, this is me, listening.
***
Participating in “Why We Blog” so far:
mom2six at Treasures of Darkness. In her post, mom2six writes: “This is how I share the voice He has given me.”
Chrissy at A Pastor’s Wife … The Faith Journey. In her post, she says: “I guess maybe, some day, some scared wife will read my blog and see it’s not so bad being a pastor’s wife.”
Christy Rose at The Secret Life of an American Wife and Mom. In her post, “Why I Blog,” Christy says blogging helps her resolve the struggles she faces, and that those answers often come right in the midst of the writing.
Spaghettipie hosted a similar series at her blog last year. Here’s her contribution to this project. (Her entire series is worth checking out, especially if you’re blogging as part of an effort to build a writer’s platform.)
Lyla Lindquist at A Different Story. In “Why We Blog: Blame it on the Grasshoppers,” Lyla writes: “Words can’t stay inside. They have to come out or they start on fire inside you.” (Lyla’s words are fire-starters. She is one of the most insightful bloggers I’ve come across. Her blog is worth checking out …)
James Oh at Christian Walk Toward Destiny. In his “Why We Blog” post, James says he wants to help strengthen others spiritually. Amen.
Valerie at Simply 4 God. In her post, It’s My Blogoversary, Valerie writes: “I may never know until the day I go home to be with my Lord if I indeed touched someone with my words, but that is okay. … I know that HE has been and will continue to be GLORIFIED!”
isumom at ISU and Other Life Details. In her post, Why I Blog…, isumom writes: “Sometimes I get so busy in my day to day life that the little things get forgotten, and sometimes it is the little things that matter the most.”
I love your description of why we blog. I’d say you are right on! Keeping listening, Jennifer!
I love how you put it from power held high on cross-shaped beams…to Power, trenched in.
I pray that our lives look like that, that His power at work in us might be enough to provide light and energy and all that He wants to use us to do!
Great post – still rattling around in my heart how to share why I blog – but it isn’t too different than this.
I love how you put it from power held high on cross-shaped beams…to Power, trenched in.
I pray that our lives look like that, that His power at work in us might be enough to provide light and energy and all that He wants to use us to do!
Great post – still rattling around in my heart how to share why I blog – but it isn’t too different than this.
Oh listening for the quiet. Keep listening and sharing what you hear.
God Bless You,
Lori
Jennifer, Jennifer. That wasn’t the quote you were supposed to pull. I should have flagged it for you. 😉
This was the one you needed to take: “Stop reading this and go read her [Jennifer] today instead. You may wonder about me, but you’ll have no problem at all understanding why she blogs. Amazing God-seeking heart rushes out every time she uncaps her pen.”
Because you just proved it again. Pen uncapped, out came your heart.
“You have to be really quiet to listen for the quiet.”
You have to be really quiet to hear God speak through your little ones, too.
Seems you do both well.
Thanks for the link. God bless you today.
Jennifer,
I decided too join you with a post on my site about why i blog.
It was good just to think it through.
Thanks for the challenge,
Christy
Oh you are listening, Jennifer. Listening for all of us.
We all need the quiet. I think that’s why I’m most awake between midnight and four in the morning.
Wonderful, wonderful post. And I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.
The part of my heart that beats the loudest is the part that comes to me when my chaos finds its rest and the quiet sings her song.
Beautiful, friend.
peace~elaine
i wrote a little ditty on my page about why I blog 🙂 Guess I never thought about it before.
This is so beautiful, Jennifer.
Quietly beautiful.
It isn’t always easy, but I’m training my heart to be still and my ears to listen for His Whispers…
I am so excited to have found your blog!
Jennifer you write with such sweetness. I can sense it in your heart; it’s like you consume Christ’s love and embrace it even with a post about ‘Why we blog’. I try to visualize you and Anna taking it all in. You are such a sweet, precious woman of His.
Powerful, powerful post Jennifer. I love your reason for blogging and mine are similar.
I feel and love deep from within the heart…I listen…then it all absorbs into my mind, heart and soul and as I am consumed, then I type. The words just come. When I’m consumed with Him in communing with Him in the stillness, the quietness, I hear Him in my mind and then I type or write as fast as He gives it to me. I have much that He has given me that I have not shared. He will let me know when…but yes, be still, pray, listen and He will consume us. He will and when He does, the words just continue to flow. He has gifted me with melodies that I sing that I don’t even know. It just comes out of my mouth and they sound like songs that I have never sang before. It’s hard to explain, I can start humming or singing in the spirit and the melodies are absolutely beautiful. If I tried to repeat it, I can’t, but if I just let it come, sometimes some of the melodies are the same. Oh how I love Him. I’m in awe of Him with every single breath that I take.
I went from one thing to another here, but I can’t apologize because I know it was from Him and all praise, honor and glory are His forever and ever more.
I just love you Jennifer and you are an amazing woman of the Lord and he has gifted you in so many ways. I am happy to call you dear, sweet friend. You are touching so many through your site, especially me!
Hugs,
Alleluiabelle
Why do I blog? Simple…so my heart can share the essence of what my life is all about.
Alleluiabelle, What a wonderful post you’ve written — right here in the comments — to explain Why You Blog.
You’re right. It is hard to explain. But I under what you’re saying here. I know that song you’re singin’. And I like it.