MAYBE YOU NEED SOME SLOW SIMPLE SILENCE

There are sixty million women in America who are so overstressed and over scheduled that it affects their physical health. This lifestyle of hurried busyness affects everyone in a woman's family, especially her children. In the midst of the modern woman's hectic life, her children are tossed around while desperately trying to steady themselves. Inside they are screaming,"Mom! you're moving too fast."

The message of our culture is that our value comes from what we do and how busy we are. Because we listen to this nonsense, we take on much more than we should. We don't know how to say No. Because we seek approval from people instead of from God we hate to disappoint others and we often say yes to validate our own importance. We need to stop wearing ourselves out being people pleasers and start making decisions based on what God is calling us to do.

Our value is not in what we do, our value is in who we are...God's children. But because we live in a culture focused on doing, we get caught up in the craziness of the world's hectic pace. There's a clear connection between rushing and stress. We need to stop being so hurried. When we hurry, we lose touch with God and all He wants to give us. We also lose touch with the people in our lives.

Time spent with God and time spent with our children may not be seen as productive time. If we can get some work done instead of doing those things, we think we've made the right choice. But what price are we paying for our busyness?  The price we pay is a life void of joy and peace. God created us to need time with Him. We need that calming and loving presence. When we neglect what the soul needs, we will look desperately for something else to fill the emptiness. I find that the days when I overeat are the same days that I spend the least time with God.

What are you most focused on? What takes up most of your time and energy? When you finally do have some down time, what do you think about? What do you treasure most in this life? God invites us to store up our treasures in Heaven. The only thing in this life that will last into eternity is relationships. Relationships with God and others should be our treasures. Unfortunately many people give possesions a higher priority than people.

One of the keys to simplifying our lives is to weed out all the stuff we don't need. Just as there's a clear connection between rushing and stress, there's also a clear connection between simplicity and contentment. The more stuff we have, the more debt we have and the more time we spend maintaining our stuff. That's precious time away from God and family. Debt keeps us from focusing on God. Debt makes us a slave to our things. It causes us to work longer hours, and the mental anguish that it brings is hardly worth the stuff debt buys.

Rather than focusing on buying stuff and achieving things, our focus should be on God. When we make following God a priority in our lives, everything else falls into place. We can actually invite God to help us make decisions. By running every decision through the sieve of God's will, we achieve simplicity. By scheduling some free time into our weekly schedules, we have more patience. Being impatient causes great heartache for ourselves and our families.

God holds the secret to successful living and true success is based on who we are not what we do. When we know how to slow down, how to simplify our lives, and how to build relationships with Him and others, we become who we need to be to live lives of peace, joy and contentment. If the joy and peace are missing, perhaps you need to slow down, simplify, and get silent with God.