Stop! Get Quiet...be still-Part 2

Welcome back friends!

If you were here yesterday, you know that today’s post is part two of Stop! Get Quiet…be still.

If you missed yesterday’s post, catch up here: Stop! Get Quiet...be still-Part I

I left you, waiting to see how God showed up in the midst of my recent unraveling.

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I dreaded the long drive back home from the Florida town where my dear friend had just gone home to be with Jesus.

The days following are a blur.

The disconnection between my husband and me lingered. I continued with the usual; work, keeping grandbabies, ministry, the rush of life, while numerous volunteer needs at church continually beckoned me.

I’ve always struggled with saying “yes” when I should say “no”. Saying yes to doing good things isn’t always God’s best.

I’d once read Lysa Terkeurst’s, The Best Yes, and realized I needed to read it again.  

If you struggle with over commitment, I encourage you to read her book. You can purchase it here: The Best Yes

Have you ever been physically exhausted and soul tired; not sooo tired, but SOUL tired, where one more thing would’ve completed the unraveling?

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, 

and I will give you rest. Taky My yoke upon you and learn from Me, 

for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:28 (NKJV)

When did rest become a luxury instead of necessity?

I hope by sharing the following steps I took to stop the unraveling, will help you if you are in a similar mess.

First, I stopped.

I stopped my volunteer stuff at church and worrying about what others thought about it. I stopped rushing everywhere, barely arriving on time.

I stopped filling the margins of leftover time with lunches and other “fun” things.

I stopped looking at my phone every five minutes. I didn’t realize how addicted I was to my phone.

I stopped asking God questions and overthinking everything.

I got quiet.

In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. Isaiah 30:15 (NKJV)

I spent time with Him; in His word, waiting to hear what He would say, rather than me doing all the talking. This calmed the constant chatter in my head. My only prayer for several weeks was, 

"Lord, that I would hear Your voice and be filled with Your spirit."

In the quiet I was able to hear Him say,

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, 

and He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; 

I have called you by your name; You are Mine. Isaiah 43:1

I drove with the radio off most of the time. No news or music.

The more I focused on what God said, the less my thoughts clamored about how to fix and control everything.

I got still.

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)

Did you know it’s okay to not have to go somewhere or do something productive, every waking minute?

I sat still on our porch. No phone or tablet allowed.

Being still isn’t only a physical act, but a stillness deep within. Physical rest requires being still, but soul rest, is an inner work that only God can do.

At first I had to be intentional to not succumb to the urges that I always need to be doing something.

While being still before God, I allowed myself to mourn my friend.

Instead of fearing my son’s mental illness, I allowed myself to grieve, then relinquish him completely to his Almighty Father, and trust Him, who is able to accomplish the impossible.

...do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the 

salvation of the Lord, which He will 

accomplish for you today. Exodus 14:13

During my time out, I accepted an invitation for a short beach getaway with several girlfriends. Nothing fancy. A tiny, old block house that we filled with lots of laughter and memories.

I know not everyone can go to the beach, but maybe there’s a nearby area you can escape to for a day or even a few hours.

Jesus did.

He went out and departed to a solitary 

place; and there He prayed. Mark 1:35

My husband and I departed on a long weekend getaway and reconnected.

Work and chores still needed to be done, but during these weeks I rediscovered His peace and rest.

Remember the nearby town I mentioned yesterday that I despise? When I have to go or pass through it, and a flashback invades my thoughts, I allow the memory. Then I thank God for His working it for His purpose of healing and restoration. It's ah-may-zing the power that has! I'm sure that soon I will love that old town again.

As my time-out season comes to an end, the process continues. I have a new game plan, a different strategy. I expect that in the near future, I'll be sharing some of those strategies with you.
My friend, if you're feeling the melt down coming, unraveling, freaking out, overwhelmed and exhausted, you are not alone. As I type these words, I'm praying for you. Go to the The One who will give you rest. Learn from Him. Give Him your choking yoke and replace it with His.

Then you can say with me, I know the best is yet to come.

Staying the course together,
Terri

Stop! Get Quiet...be still-Part I

Greetings to any and all who may be reading this. 

A lot has happened since my last post on Valentine's Day, 2017.

I'm sharing today about where I've been with the hope that you will be encouraged.

This post is in two parts, with the second piece coming tomorrow.

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“I despise that town. I stay away as much as possible.”

“Why?”

“Too many bad memories. Everywhere I go, 

I’m reminded of 19 years worth of ‘em.”

This is often my conversation with someone about a nearby town where I lived for 23 years.

Lots of good things happened there. First house, my daughter was born there, and we had great friends and was part of an amazing church family. 

While living in this town, I also experienced the betrayal of infidelity between my husband and best friend from church.

Left with my precious children, then 15-months old and six years, divorce followed. 

Foreclosure, bankruptcy.

When I ended the revolving-door of insanity with my ex and his out-of-control life, setting boundaries, things intensified with him. 

Emotional, verbal and mental abuse.

Believable threats.

Scenes in various places like those on that TV show COPS.

Living in fear. Lies. Injustices. 

These memories surface, along with apparent undealt-with brokenness, everytime I go to that town.

In spite of the bad, my relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, deepened during those years. When I thought my stretched-out faith couldn’t be stretched one more milli-speck, He would show up, which caused my faith to stretch all the more.

He lavished me with grace and forgiveness for my mistakes. He turned vision for ministry into physical reality. He called me out over deep waters to the mission field; opened doors to opportunities and experiences that I otherwise would never have had…

…if I hadn’t gone through the pain and hardship…

if I hadn’t experienced the abuse.

And at one of the lowest points in my 16^th year as

a single mom, He penned, When All Seems Lost, a poem I wrote that eventually became a song.

Then I wrote a book. Two actually.

God has definitely taken the bad stuff and turned it into His good purposes. All that happened was a long time ago and sounds like I have healed and moved on to amazing things. 

While this is mostly true, the other truth is, I haven’t. Not fully. 

The rush of life, work, raising kids, and saying yes to endless volunteering opportunities, has let me unintentionally avoid dealing with painful memories. 

So where have I been these past five months, since my last blog post? Where did I go? 

I went into time out. 

I quit writing. I quit all social media venues, except one I visited occasionally. I said, “no” to every volunteer opportunity.

I quit scheduling stuff, and cramming my days with pressure to do this, do that, get IT done, get more page views, followers and comments. 

My want-to quit on me too. In a state of exhaustion, I felt the unravel begin.

Marital irritants became monumental. I began to disengage from everything important.

I questioned...

• Will my marriage survive?
• Will the ministry survive?
• Has God really called me to write?
• Did I really hear Him say......

Some days ended with me crashing in bed before dinner.

Add to that the ongoing sorrow of my son’s mental illness and estrangement, I was done.

Then in March the news came. My bestie of 25 years, mentor and sister in Christ (the one on the left) suddenly had a stroke and lay in the hospital on life support. She wasn’t going to make it.

A seven-hour drive to say goodbye, followed by her passing, left me depleted and emotionally spent. 

No doubt that my current life, compounded with past years of undealt-with hurts had caught up with me. 

All I seemed to be able to hear from God was, 

“Terri, stop! Get quiet. Be still.”

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

"Gladly, Lord. Gladly."

My Father put me in time out. 

During my alone time with God, my prayers went from presenting requests, with stress-infused petitions, to two things:

“Lord, that I would hear Your voice, 

and be filled with Your spirit.”

Was I in trouble and needed to be disciplined? Or was my time out like those called by coaches to discuss strategy and a new game plan? I discovered it was some of both.

Meet me back here tomorrow to find out how my Rescuer, Jesus, showed up. 

If you are on the brink of quitting, hang on! If you're burned out and over committed, there's hope.

Until tomorrow, I leave you with this song: WHEN ALL SEEMS LOST

Staying the course,

Terri