white noise

Lamentations 3:26 (New International Version)


26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

I have been meditating on this verse since yesterday evening. Amazingly, for one having such a hard time memorizing scripture, this one stuck fast. To wait quietly...sort of like being still and knowing...it's a good place to be.
I've noticed how much noise I have in my everyday life - voluntarily. (I'm not talking about the noise children make either. *smile*) I'm talking about radio, television, live stream media online added to the noises of city life - the cars, the sirens, the neighbor's dogs barking....then there's the air conditioner, the fans, the humming of electricity burning through our bank account....and don't forget the droning in my head going on about what I haven't done yet, and what I've said I'd do, and how well I'm doing what I am doing.....then add phone ringing and conversations, microwaves and timers beeping....and the cacauphany is almost more than I can bear! Oh, to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord!
So, in response to this realization, I have been turning things OFF. And in the quiet I hear songs of praise. It's not K-LOVE - it's praise music sung to me in my childhood. The hymns on the tape of music for my ballet recital when I was 5? 6? Who would ever guess that the first seeds of faith were planted by a loving ballet teacher? I listened to those over and over on my little brown fisher price tape player, even after the recital had come and gone. There are songs sung during mass during my 5th, 6th, & 7th grade years. There is music from my very first encounters with contemporary christian music - Twila Paris, and M.W. Smith. (sp. the "I 2 Eye" album that I wish I still had.)
When I am quiet..and still..I can hear the Holy Spirit prompting: to pray....to sing...to praise.
I woke up this morning with a song on my mind that I can't recall now but for the idea - a pleading for God to not foget me. Tonight as I nursed C.R. I realized I was humming a song of thankfulness...now I have this song in my heart:

Yahweh's people dance for joy,
Oh, come before the Lord,
and play for him on glad tambourine
and fill your hearts with song!
Sing a new song unto the Lord,
let your songs be sung from mountains high.
Sing a new song unto the Lord,
singing alleluja!

It's really is good to wait quietly, to be still and know He is God, and I plan to turn as much off as I can so I may wait quietly more often. \o/

water

~opening the flood gate~

beginning with a trickle

dripping, streaming, gushing:
ideas and conversations shared;
blending, bonding, sealing
an aquaduct of
intertwined relationships~
a soul's neighborhood
mortered, scented, permeated
with Triune Agape.

Keirsey profile

http://keirsey.com/

Copyrighted © 1996-2004 Prometheus Nemesis Book Company

The Counselor Idealists are abstract in thought and speech, cooperative in reaching their goals, and directive and introverted in their interpersonal roles. Counselors focus on human potentials, think in terms of ethical values, and come easily to decisions. The small number of this type (little more than 2 percent) is regrettable, since Counselors have an unusually strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others and genuinely enjoy helping their companions. Although Counsleors tend to be private, sensitive people, and are not generally visible leaders, they nevertheless work quite intensely with those close to them, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes with their families, friends, and colleagues. This type has great depth of personality; they are themselves complicated, and can understand and deal with complex issues and people.

Counselors can be hard to get to know. They have an unusually rich inner life, but they are reserved and tend not to share their reactions except with those they trust. With their loved ones, certainly, Counselors are not reluctant to express their feelings, their face lighting up with the positive emotions, but darkening like a th
underhead with the negative. Indeed, because of their strong ability to take into themselves the feelings of others, Counselors can be hurt rather easily by those around them, which, perhaps, is one reason why they tend to be private people, mutely withdrawing from human contact. At the same time, friends who have known a Counselor for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that they are inconsistent; Counselors value their integrity a great deal, but they have intricately woven, mysterious personalities which sometimes puzzle even them.

Counselors have strong empathic abilities and can become aware of another's emotions or intentions -- good or evil -- even before that person is conscious of them. This "mind-reading" can take the form of feeling the hidden distress or illnesses of others to an extent which is difficult for other types to comprehend. Even Counselors can seldom tell how they came to penetrate others' feelings so keenly. Furthermore, the Counselor is most likely of all the types to demonstrate an ability to understand psychic phenomena and to have visions of human events, past, present, or future. What is known as ESP may well be exceptional intuitive ability-in both its forms, projection and introjection. Such supernormal intuition is found frequently in the Counselor, and can extend to people, things, and often events, taking the form of visions, episodes of foreknowledge, premonitions, auditory and visual images of things to come, as well as uncanny communications with certain individuals at a distance.


Copyrighted © 1996-2005 Prometheus Nemesis Book Co.

IDEALIST NFs, being ABSTRACT in communicating and COOPERATIVE in implementing goals, can become highly skilled in DIPLOMATIC INTEGRATION. Thus their most practiced and developed intelligent operations are usually teaching and counseling (NFJ mentoring), or conferring and tutoring (NFP advocating). And they would if they could be sages in one of these forms of social development. The Idealist temperament have an instinct for interpersonal integration, learn ethics with ever increasing zeal, sometimes become diplomatic leaders, and often speak interpretively and metaphorically of the abstract world of their imagination. Idealists resist instruction from any external source.

They are proud of themselves in the degree they are empathic in action, respect themselves in the degree they are benevolent, and feel confident of themselves in the degree they are authentic. Idealist types search for their unique identity, hunger for deep and meaningful relationships, wish for a little romance each day, trust their intuitive feelings implicitly, aspire for profundity. This is the "Identity Seeking Personality" -- credulous about the future, mystical about the past, and their preferred time and place are the future and the pathway. Educationally they go for the humanities, avocationally for ethics, and vocationally for personnel work.

Social relationships: In their family interactions they strive for mutuality, provide spiritual intimacy for the mates, opportunity for fantasy for their children, and for themselves continuous self-renewal. Idealists do not abound, being as few as 8% and nor more than 10% of the population.

Seek first

It never ceases to amazes me when God is faithful answering my prayer - that he listens and responds to what I feel like are the feeble and clumsy prayers of an inadequate mother/wife/daughter/sister/aunt/friend.
God is truly gracious and loving! Through Him I was able to make it a WHOLE day without loosing my patience! I had warm contentedness...a peace. As children are so good at doing, they reflected me and the way I responded to the day. Even while feeling icky. It has been glorious. School lessons were accomplished with minimal grumbling and with focus. I overheard my children being kind even when "inconvenienced" by their siblings. *happy sigh*
I still have more housework, I'm still fighting sickness, yet it has been a GOOD day.

Thank You, Elohim. \0/ \0/


painting: San Cassiano Altar, by Antonello da Messina
1475-76
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Confession

I did not get up early. We did not have school. Three out of five family members have sickness or feel like they may be getting sickness (the latter being moi). I was going to take the day easy after sleeping in - but ended up doing some yard work. What started small just led from one thing to another and another. The yard is looking nicer anyway.
Another confession: I just learned about bandwidth thievery - of which I am guilty. Now that I know what it is, and how I was doing it, I am going back thru my posts to make sure all pictures I've shared are copyrite free (I know that they are) and also downloaded to my computer and then uploaded to an image host online (I can think of two which aren't!). *whew* sounds complicated but it's not. Photobucket is wonderful for image hosting, by the way. Amazing thing about laws - they are there even if you don't know about them. I think there are some great spiritual implications there, but I don't have time to get into them. CA just got out of the shower and the younger two are done bathing and are dressed and ready for bed - night time routines beckon.
I'l have to com eback - maybe later tonight or early in the morning - I've been reading some great things and want to post them here to chew on and hopefull get some other's insight.
One last question - and this is not a joke - What are your thoughts about reading the bible in the bathroom?

Prep-ing

This weekend has been mostly restful. We took friday off of school, so we will actually be having lessons tomorrow.
I am prep-ing to make this week different. Changes in schedule....more consistency. The last two nights bedtimes have gone much smoother. And I like to think it is because I have pretty much done the exact same thing with them each nite - without being rigid about it. The only thing I have to add is reading...which I think we will move away from the bedroom, and keep being in their bed's for sleeping only.
I spoke with a fellow HERO homeschooling mom at Saturday's swim lesson and recieved a great idea for getting back to the gym. (which has been practically impossible it seems - and there is no way I'm going to wake up earlier to get there!) Anyway - three times a week in the afternoon, they have water aerobics. I know, I know - I imagine a pool of little old ladies in swim caps - but anyway - I think I might join in - I'll finally be back in the gym doing something low impact and good for my horrid knees. *smile*
So...there will yet more consistency - M,W,F - gym; T,Th - karate - at the same time each day! Now, if I get my morning and evening routines going - dare I say: "flying"? - I'll be doing pretty darn good. *pleased grin*
As far as the "Believing God " study goes - I'm not going to be doing that. I'll have to let Tally tell me the wonders of Beth Moore's book, etc. For some strange reason I thought Lifeway was offering the study for free. What could have possibly given me that idea - I have no clue. *shrug* Anyway - instead I decided to splurge and by a book I have been looking at:
Praying the Names of God, A Daily Guide by Ann Spangler. She covers 26 of God's names or titles over 26 weeks. Talk about bang for your buck. *giggle* the other sutdy is only 10 weks long and I think they have the same amount of "homework", and I have no extra journal or video to buy. *smile* I like that. a lot. *grin* And I start tomorrow. *thumbsup*
Now off to bed I go - and to quote my sister quoting Meg Ryan:
"Good night dear void......."