Noise = Quietness

You can see the water and food splatters and the food-y finger prints.

I have been staring at this folded up sheet of paper on my kitchen window sill for a few months now. I have read it multiple times a day, trying to "wait" for the "Word to renew me". One of my favorite things to do is sleep and somehow I connected "renew" with sleep. They seem like synonyms to me... doesn't that sound logical to you?

This verse also made me think of the other verse that says I will be "cleansed by the washing of  water with the Word" (Ephesians 5:26) since I was often washing dishes while I re-read this verse...

But then it struck me last week.

I had skipped the first part of the passage every time I read it. I skimmed over it in desperate attempts at a desire for renewal....or in my mind, rest.

"You are a my place of quiet retreat..."

When the kids are running laps through the dining room, kitchen, hallway, living room, dining room, kitchen, ....over and over.... God remains my place of quietness.

When the commercials are louder than the news, the dog is asking to be let out, the timer is going off in the kitchen.....God remains my place of silence.

When the phone is ringing and my mind is cluttered and weighty.....God remains my place of retreat.

Despite all the noise-literal, emotional, life- around me, I can find quietness in God.

Since I can find my quietness in Him, I must not need to wait for the literal quiet I seek. I can meet with him right in the chaos of my day.

Oddly enough, when I fight to find my quiet retreat within Him no matter the noise level around me, His words do renew me.