Friday, January 23, 2015

Silence and Solitude!

Last Sunday Tyler preached a great sermon....You can see a brief outline of the message from this link or listen to it (I'd listen if I were you).  It was the January 18 message.  He talked about several things but the one I have been thinking about all week is the section on "Transformation of the Mind" (also the body but I'm still working that one out).

He talked about finding peace in Silence and Solitude....actually seeking it out to quiet the mind and listen to God. During the sermon I leaned over to the King and snickered and said "Yep.  I'll be able to do that in 15 years or so."  But it has been eating at me all week.

My children are not the noise in my mind.  They ARE the noise in my house....but what clutters my mind and steals silence and solitude?  The internet.  Facebook.  Pinterest.  Email.  As a stay at home mom, I use the excuse a lot that the internet is my connection to the outside world.  It may be the only adult conversation I have all day till the king gets home.  Blah blah blah.

But it steals my silence.

It steals my attention from my kids.

It most certainly steals my solitude.

As much as I want to tell myself I can handle being online just a little bit....it is clear that I can not. Not without serious and strict boundaries.  So I am setting those boundaries.  There are some online connections I need to maintain (keeping up on homeschool events in the area, online recipes I use often, knitting patterns, etc)....but I need to limit myself to break this habit.  And find silence and solitude.  And transform my mind.

So...

  • I will limit my facebook/pinterest time to 1 hour each day....with a timer.
  • I will not be online at all if I have not yet completed my personal Bible Study and journaling.  


The rest of my day will be filled with the kids and school, housekeeping, and hobbies that I enjoy.


1 comment:

  1. "Ouch, hallelujah!", as my friend would say. Haven't listened to the sermon, but have been hearing the same thing about the time stealers. Thanks for sharing! Another confirmation from the Lord! Praying that we can stick to the boundaries!

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