Fall Again?

Wow, time flies. So it is Fall again. I never believed my parents when they talked about how quickly time flies when you are grown and have kids, but they were right because I can't keep up! Anna is almost 3. Emily is in Kindergarten. And I am about to move one year closer to midlife - which I now vote to change to 60. We have been having so much fun lately. Dennis and Emily had Fall break last week and we spent 3 days in Carrollton, KY at General Butler State Park. Fun place to take the kiddos!

Emily caught her first "big" fish!

At the Lookout - and no one jumped off!!

We also recently had some Halloween fun at the zoo with the girls at the annual Halloween Party at the Louisville Zoo....here are some photos. We usually go at least once. We may go again before Halloween, who knows! We can't do much in the evening now because Amy, Jr. has to go to bed at 8 pm. :)

Our most surprising blessing was our new furniture. Through my seemingly endless studying of Craigslist, we were blessed with awesome deals on new bedroom furniture for Anna and new leather couches for our living room. We have been doing some rearranging and updating and are excited about our new look!! The best part is leather couches will help mommy's allergies!!!

We also had the opportunity to have breakfast with Randy and Cheryl Lawry while they were in town this past week for Randy's work. We had a great time with them! Thanks guys!!

Stillness

It is so nice to just sit here with my coffee and think. I believe we have gotten far away from this hobby in our society. I believe not many of us just take time to sit in peace and quiet. At least most people my age, anyway. I think a lot of people realize with age the value of the stillness. But not everyone. We are busy, on the go, and with noise surrounding us. Cellphones buzzing, television chattering, radio singing, kids bickering.

In Sunday School we've been talking about the will of God. How do you know the will of God? Does He still speak to us in a strong, audible voice? Some say they have experienced this and that is wonderful. But for most of us, God speaks in a still, small voice or like a "gentle wind."

Read 1 Kings 19:11-13:
11So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD " And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
12After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Well, for many of us He'd have to call on our cell or email us before we'd get it!! ;) We expect the earthquakes or the fires, but not the gentle blowing. But if we take advantage of the silent times, it makes it so much easier to hear Him. Of course, we also have to have a meek, teachable spirit and be willing to hear God tell us something different than we thought we'd hear. Adrian Rogers says that sometimes our prayers are like "a person who does all of the talking? They think they're having a conversation, but they're just making a speech." He says "I'm afraid our prayers are like that sometimes. We say, 'Listen Lord, your servant speaks,' rather than 'Speak Lord, your servant listens.'"

My prayer for myself and for anyone who reads this devotion is that this week we would find quiet time to just listen and be still with God and hear Him in the 'gentle blowing.'