So. Here's where I am in the process of transitioning to a stay-at-home mom. Mostly, I'm convinced that God is calling me to slow down, to create space in my life for Him to fill. My tendency is to get busy! get productive! do something! BUT. Not now.In his article, "Solitude, Community, and Ministry: Three Ways to Make Space for God," Henri Nouwen explores how God calls us to those three practices--in that order. In case you don't have five minutes to read it, here's a recap:
- Solitude: Solitude is essential and allows us enough quiet in our lives to hear the truth that we are deeply known and deeply loved by God. When solitude is absent, we often miss that truth because of all the other voices around us and live our lives wondering "Am I loved?"instead of resting in the fact that we are loved.
- Community: Nouwen outlines two parts: forgiveness and celebration. Forgiveness: "Forgiveness means the willingness to always forgive people for not being able to fulfill all your needs....disappointment should lead me to forgive my fellow human beings for not being God, for not being able to give me all I need and all I desire. I should also ask forgiveness constantly, again and again, that I cannot offer people that unconditional love I would like to offer." Celebration: "Celebration means to lift up the gifts of the people with whom we live."
- Ministry: Through both compassion and gratitude we give our lives away for others--a beautiful, overwhelming, difficult concept.
While all three of these should be present in my life, the order of them makes sense to me. It's hard to have ministry without community, hard to have community without first being alone. So, for now I'm focusing mostly on the solitude stage. I'm slowing down. I'm trying to block out distractions, busyness, the flutter of activity, trying to embrace the simple life, trying to be okay with not producing at light speed, trying to listen to God for what's next. I'm looking forward to how that will propel me into community with my neighbors, friends, and people I have yet to meet. And then, after all that, I'm excited to see how He will use my gifts to give my life away to others, whatever that may look like.
2 comments:
I like the idea of slowing down. That sounds really useful. And the being alone. But what I find difficult is listening to God, knowing how to really do that.
True. God doesn't speak to us directly, so "hearing" him is difficult. However, we do have the Word of God--scripture--and I find that that's where God speaks to me most. By taking time to read the Bible and meditate on what it says, God often reveals truths supernaturally. I also find that he "speaks" through circumstances, prayer, books, music, nature, and others in our lives.
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