The Importance of Being Still {Personal Post}

We live in a society where stillness is quickly becoming a thing of the past.  A thing we used to be able to do.  A thing that is no longer attainable, what with all the cell phones, iPods, laptops, and riveting television series about vampires, werewolves, and the undead.

I have a secret for you, though...stillness is possible.

It lies inside you.  In your heart.  In the place that Jesus lives.  He wants you to join Him there each and every day.  He wants you to be still and hear the love He breathes into you every day.  He wants you to soak it in.  Every day.

I will not sit here and say that this is easy.  Or that I do it every day.  Or that you're a failure if you don't practice this every day.  I will, however, tell you that you can do it.  And I will tell you that once you do, you'll wonder how you've lived without it all this time.

It is no secret that photography is my creative outlet.  Some people paint, some people draw, some people play/write music.  I choose to freeze moments in time with a few technical adjustments and the click of a button.  It's how I show people the way I view the world. It's my escape.  This morning, I decided I would go out and take photos of the sunrise.  Those of you who know me and know me well know that getting up with the birds is not a favorite pass time of mine. It's not that I don't like the morning...I just like it a lot more the closer it gets to noon.  I joke with my family (who stare at me, mouths open when they see me before 10:30 a.m.) that the looks on their face resemble that of someone who has just seen a rare bird.  The rare Ashley bird, as I like to call it. But this morning, I chose to go out and use my creative outlet as an opportunity to be still.  I have become rather comfortable with my camera, and settings adjustments require little to no thought for me anymore.  So I sat in the stillness of the early morning. I snapped some photos.  I reflected on the burdens I have been carrying lately. I gave them to God. And I became still. 

Anyone who knows me also knows of my inability to be still for too long.  After about five minutes, I began to sing.  The song on my heart this morning was "His Eye is on the Sparrow".  I sang as I photographed the sunrise (or, sunrise-ish, as it was overcast this morning) and the flowers in the field.  I could feel the burdens being lifted off my heart as I sang louder and louder.  I serve a faithful God...and I could feel Him in the stillness.

You serve a faithful God, too.  You just have to trust, be still, and let go. <3

  

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