Monday Freewrite

Note: For those of you who are new here, a FREEWRITE is writing that does not stop for a set time without worrying about punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc. I did it with my kids when they were growing up. Now I do it for me to just think through what is going on in my head and heart. It is also a creative outlet because I realize that I love to write. :) 

I used to have to set my timer on a webpage. It is so nice to tell my watch or Alexa to do it, and it obeys. Tee Hee. I am one of those people who sees that technology has its uses, but I don't have to be consumed by it. 

Oh, I started freewriting this morning because I had this presence of God kind of moments. I was just sitting at the dining room table after my silent morning walk, and I just sensed him so real and present and there. I love this. So I usually try to write about it, and who can describe the presence of God? Really. So, I am just enjoying this and writing.

I meditated in 1 Kings 19 this morning. Elijah in the cave after he had had enough of Jezebel (fearful, he ran - I don't blame him - I would probably do the same thing). So cool that it is the first verse in the new prayer journey I am on. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have finished my third 19th annotation of the Spiritual Exercises. It was so grand and wonderful. I don't know if I will ever be tired of reviewing my life story and meditating deeply in Jesus' life story! More and more freedom happens every-single-time. Praise be to God for his glorious and wonderful gift.

So, I had also done a parallel 18th annotation of the Exercises called Moment by Moment: A Retreat in Everyday Life. I had purchased it on the recommendation of a friend about two years ago, and just glancing at it, it had some nice things about it, but it was not the "full-leaded" version of the Exercises. So I was not that impressed (except some of the questions were really good). But I thought it might be good for the woman I was doing the 18th annotation with. I decided to pray through it in parallel and ended up really liking it after all! (Except Moment 24 in the book - I am not Catholic.) So, I noticed the authors had written another prayer book called Finding God in Each Moment: The Practice of Discernment in Everyday Life. It will be a nice prayer book to go through to the end of spring. Great follow up, and today was about STILLNESS and 1 Kings 19. So cool because I had mentioned 1 Kings 19 in my talk on leadership with the HOME group women yesterday, and there it was this morning. God's trains are always on time and never miss their connections. I needed to pay attention. 

This was about Elijah and God not being in the wind, earthquake, or fire (all powerful symbols for God), but he was in the gentle stillness (sheer silence) and a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12). 

Ahhhhhhh. That is where he usually meets me. 

The grace prayed for is "to allow myself to be drawn into the quiet interior space and to bring that stillness to my relationships."

So, that is what I will do this week. Stillness in relationships. My application was to go for a stillness walk. No phone. No music playing or audiobooks. (My body was moving so I guess it was more about silence really.)  I will bring stillness into my relationship with Marge this morning as we finish up her 18th annotation of the Exercises today. I will bring stillness to my walk with Kim during lunch. 

Fifteen minutes fini.