when you can't hear a thing.

you know when you are talking on the phone, and the kids are yelling in the background, the tv is on, and you can not hear a thing?
i mean...not like any of us ever have OUR kids yelling in the background, but ya know...some ELSE'S kids!
anyways...what do you do in that situation?
you make all the noise around you stop. right?
you turn the tv off. you leave the room. you glare at those other person's kids ;) and you push your ear really hard against the phone to make sure you don't miss a word.

i was thinking about this in light of the thoughts i have been having about hearing God's voice.
i feel like right now in my life, i really want to hear God's voice. i feel like i can not hear a thing He's saying.
and i want to. i really really want to.
then i thought about what i am doing to make sure i hear His words.

am i turning off the computer? the tv? am i leaving the room that is filled with laundry or dishes or a million other things that are literally screaming my name?
because sometimes. the things that are screaming my name are actually important! and i could even put up a good argument that they are necessities! it might be ministry-related, or business-related..or actually? even mother-related.
to be honest, i have to remind myself sometimes that as important as quality time with my boys is?
quiet time alone with God is much more important!
much more.
because the more time i make even with my kids, if it is taking away time with my God?
is not time well spent!

i want to hear from God. so badly.
i feel like i am begging Him to talk to me.
and when it started to feel like he is just. not. speaking.
i had to ask myself.
is it me? am i even listening? am i working as hard as i can to get alone and just listen?
the answer to that. i hate to even say it.
is no.
just flat-out no.
instead, what i started to do was say...hmmm..maybe God just doesn't speak the way i thought he did.
what? am i starting to doubt what God says?
He says that if i call to him he will answer. He says that His sheep hear his voice.
so obviously. the problem is not the person who is talking.
it's the person who is not listening.

i hope that this challenges you the way it did me.
stop the noise around you. make it stop.
push your ear against His Word.
and listen. just listen.


and these pictures are just because i took them a long time ago, but were supposed to be a surprise for my sister-in-law and i have been dying to share them ever since! they just make me smile to look at them!