Quiet

What do you do when your house is quiet? In my house, this does not happen very often. With six humans, two dogs, two cats and an emergency back up leopard gecko, normally there is always a buzz of activity. But this morning is quiet, I have a cat keeping me company, but all the rest are asleep. I notice small noises, grateful for the heat to be working, thankful for our little home.

Here’s the thing, I can wake in a completely different mindset, i can be scared or worried. I can wonder about things that have not come. Worry about what people are thinking. Noise. So there may be no noise in the house, but in my head, it is anything but quiet.

I’ve talked about it before, but i guess i need to learn this once again. One of my greatest defenses against the anxiety and interior noise is my work to memorize Scripture. I’ll be honest, I’m not any expert, but the process of repeating Scripture over and over in my mind makes the noise quiet. I have to focus on the words I’m studying. Can’t focus on the past or future or people.

So, upon waking, checking a few things, I begin my time to memorize. I start my day with this. I don’t know that I would call it memorizing because if someone asked me to recite, I am not sure I could. Rather, it is the reviewing over and over and over again that is rewriting scripts in my mind.

In the middle of the night, when I wake up and start the spiral, I start reviewing what I’m meditating upon. Likely there are parts that have been memorized, so I try to piece together these scraps, put them in the right order and soon I am falling back asleep. This is my testimony.

I hear people, me included for so very long, I can’t memorize. May I encourage you to write Scripture, review a chunk of God’s word over and over? Rather than say, memorizing, remind yourself you are meditating on God’s words. Here’s what I’m finding happens.

When I meditate, Scripture comes alive, what I’m studying now intersects with what I have studied in the past. Connections are made and I’m still meditating. Do you know what my brain is not doing? Worrying. Trying to solve all the issues of my life. Trying to make plans to …fill in the blank.

Gosh, if I could encourage myself to keep meditating and memorizing, I write this to my future self and maybe to you, his word truly becomes a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Don’t stop. it doesn’t matter if I get it all memorized, it matters that my brain finds peace.

Join me today? There are some great apps to help you in meditating on the Word. One is Bible Memory and the other is Verses. If you decided to join me, send me a note. I’d love to hear. 🙂 And remember, it’s about the journey, not the destination.