Listening to the still small voice

I have been thinking about writing a book or blog for a very long time now. Being a bit of a perfectionist, I always put it off because I was looking for the “perfect time.” Taking the advice from someone that I admire very much – Flylady, many of you know who she is, always says, “Jump in right where you are.” So, I guess I am jumping in. I have been inspired to write a book for the last several years. If I have to say exactly when, it would have to be around the time we started having issues with our old house (that was showing signs of a sinkhole). It was around that time that I realized God was getting ready to change our family's life in a very big way. I had no idea what it was all about, but I could just feel in my spirit that change was in the air.

Anyway, fast forward to the present. I will definitely write more about those other times later, but again, I need to just “jump in right where I am.” I have been feeling a stirring inside my spirit for a while now that more change is in the air. I don't know exactly what is coming, but I am trying to listen to that still small voice to hear what God is telling me or directing me to do. I started reading a book by Max Lucado called, Cure for the Common Life. I am only into the first few chapters, but I think this book may help me find what I am looking for. In the book he helps people to find the God given traits and talents that make them unique, and then use that information to make their lives more satisfying. He invites you in his book to “Reflect on your life. What have you always done well and loved to do? See your desires as gifts to heed rather than longings to suppress, and you will feel the same joy.”

So, I pondered that question. I reflected back on periods of my life when I have specific memories of things that brought me joy, or things that I am good at doing. Many thoughts came to my mind. I thought of various memories of my childhood. I remember as a young girl playing house, cooking, playing school (where I was always the teacher), writing and drawing, having adventures in the woods, and playing store. Playing store was actually the very first thing that came to my mind. My best friend and I used to gather various items from the yard and organize them into piles and line them up on a brick wall we had next to my driveway. For example, we used pine straw for spaghetti and these round pointy seed things that came off the big oak tree in my yard as meatballs. We would then pretend to buy and sell them. Then we would take them and pretend to cook dinner with them. Is it then any wonder that as a forty-something year old woman that I would desire to be a homemaker and homeschool teacher. Is it any wonder that I still love the outdoors, love to garden, and want to own my own produce stand/gift shop someday? Hmmmm....

Since moving to a small town in south Ga where we bought a fixer upper house on a couple of acres, I have experienced a peacefulness and joy in my heart that I cannot explain. People say to me all the time that they have never seen me so happy, and they are right. I guess that is another reason that I have decided to start a blog. I kind of wanted to reflect back on the past few years to see what it was the caused such a change in me. I can say, going back to the book that I am reading, that I have always had a deep rooted desire in my heart to live in the country and live on a farm. That may not even be a dream that I ever shared with anyone other than my husband. Perhaps that is why it came as a shock to many of our friends and family that we made such a radical change in our lifestyle.

So what can you expect to read about in my blog that may someday work it's way into a book? You will probably hear about silly stories of my 2 children, my cows and dogs, stories about fixing up our house and living in a house that is only about 1/3 completed, cooking and recipes, gardening and learning about farming from the perspective of a “city girl.” Yes, that was probably a run-on sentence. Sometimes my head becomes full of them when I try to write my thoughts down on paper. Last, but not least, you will hear about my conversations with God. I often like to write down my prayers, and subsequently, God's answers to my prayers. Why would I want to write something so personal for everyone to read? Because God told me I should. I don't know why. But one thing I have learned, is that when God tells you to do something, you should do it. So, God...I am putting myself out there...becoming very vulnerable...trying to listen to and obey Your still small voice.