finding a piece of peace….
Have you ever craved the quiet? Longed for a silent retreat so you could clear your mind? Do you ever try and find that silence for yourself?
I don’t….
In fact, I spend much of my life at this pace. Totally crazy, high energy, lots of multi-tasking, late nights. I don’t take much time for myself. I don’t take much time for God to get a good, “one on one” with me.
But…that’s about to change.
I was talking with my middle child about being more ” present’ at Mass…as she is soon to receive her first penance and First Communion. I was speaking to her about how God speaks to us in the silence of our heart.
The silence of our heart.
What a beautiful concept….picturing our heart in the presence of the Lord…..
It made me realize that meditation and contemplation have to be taught. We need to teach our children to quiet themselves and allow God to speak to them. Do we provide opportunities for our children to be quiet, other than naps or bedtime? Sometimes it’s simply about making them work on their own.
In order to begin this process with my kids, I need to instill more quiet time in our home…. Starting today.
My plan is to create an area or prayer corner in my home, an area where the children can relax and read a saint story or the little girls can finger the rosary beads and pray. However, until that happens, I need to offer my children opportunities for quiet.
Today was just about everyone getting an hour of quiet time to themselves.
Mini Me fell asleep rather quickly behind the couch.
The Fashionista set up herself with some Disney princesses pretty quick.
Sweet Pea went right to her room for a little Laura Ingles Wilder.
I found DDD building lego stuff inside his closet.
And well…..I was DEFINITELY making use of this time as well. After some quick prayer time, I just took some time to bask in the silence and got in a little nap myself.
Silence is so important for our mind. It’s so important for us to remove the distractions of this world from our presence. To just sit in the presence of the Lord. We don’t need to be in adoration to place ourselves in the presence of the Lord. We just need an open heart and ears ready to listen.
It’s so important that we teach our children how to desire the quieter moments as well.
My hope is that this Sunday hour of silence will just be a “seed” that I plant within their heart.
That this “seed” will grow as they grow.
As the year continues, and our prayer corner is established, my prayer is that my children will come to desire silence and seek it in their prayer life.
God bless,
Tammi
