I am finding, despite what I believed when I was younger, that I enjoy solitude.\u00a0 I really enjoy my quiet time. I find that when I use that alone time,\u00a0I\u00a0am able\u00a0to think and create.\u00a0 Now that the snow has started to fly in Minnesota, I find fewer and fewer errands that I wish to do.\u00a0 So as you will see, I have decided to just spend my home\u00a0days crafting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No, I did not get a free genie who does all the\u00a0housecleaning, laundry,\u00a0animal care, meal planning,\u00a0 . . . I think you get the idea.\u00a0 What\u00a0I did get was a change of attitude.\u00a0 I am giving myself reason (excuse, permission, etc)\u00a0to slow down.\u00a0 There are days that I feel like I\u00a0do nothing\u00a0but run from one activity to another.\u00a0 Making this commitment to completing UFO’s is becoming two-fold.\u00a0 It is a reason to save money (by not buying entertainment – craft supplis) and to force me to slow down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I must come by it naturally, because my Mama Cloie always says, she\u00a0“needs something to keep her hands busy to keep her mind\u00a0energized.”\u00a0 But instead of keeping my mind busy, I am able to slow my racing thoughts.\u00a0 Instead of always trying to keep up, I am just present\u00a0– in that moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It seems to me there is too much noise and distraction\u00a0in our world.\u00a0 If I am right in that assumption, then how will I ever “hear” God.\u00a0 As a gardener, it is easy to hear God in the\u00a0spring and summer.\u00a0 He is in the cricket’s chirp and the whisper in the wind as well as in the plink of the raindrops. With all\u00a0the technological gadgets that I have in my household combined with my self-confined “hermit tendencies”, it is easy to forget God’s command to “Be still and KNOW.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
These last few days, I have been able to use my hands to keep my mind “still”.\u00a0 If someone pops into my mind, I pause and pray for them.\u00a0God seems to pop\u00a0a lot of “someones” pop into my mind.\u00a0I find that I spend less time worrying, and it is so much easier to hand those worries over.\u00a0 I truly am at a peace.\u00a0 I also think that God knows my strong desire to not be running all the time, and so, He has used this resurgence of crafting to quiet me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even though to\u00a0the human eye it might appear that it is just me\u00a0(and Huck) quietly crafting, I know that there is\u00a0He is there.\u00a0 And just like any proud papa, He is proud that I am choosing to spend time with Him.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/01\/ufo-3.jpg\" "\\"ufo")
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