This post is part of the October 2018 Edition of 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes. I hope you”ll join me in seeing where each prompt takes us.
P.S. Just so you know, I’m finding it difficult to stick to five minutes (**) and it may take me longer than the 31 days to finish all the prompts. Not easy for this rule follower!
You can read more 31 Days entries at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com
“Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! Psalm 141:3 (ESV) / Pixabay
Talk….Or Not
I’m a talker. I love to tell stories, to think aloud. Several years ago I was riding in the car with my husband and father-in-law; chatting as I normally do when it was suggested that I couldn’t be quiet for a designated period of time. What? The gauntlet was thrown and the challenge accepted! Not only did I proclaim I could be silent for that period of time, but rather for the entire trip! The prize if I succeeded? My father-in-law had to buy me flowers. I’ll have you know I won that contest….well… sort of……when the flowers finally arrived, the note on the card simply said: “Silence is Golden“!
I now believe there’s more truth to that statement than I was willing to admit to back then. Recently, I’ve come to realize that when someone’s sharing their situation with me, my first instinct is to open my mouth and tell my version of their experience or to offer my solution. Neither of which were asked for. Thankfully, I’m now learning to keep the noise in my head from tumbling across my tongue and to just listen instead. “Silence is Golden“!
My quiet time with God also tends to be anything but quiet! When I try to be silent before the Lord, song lyrics may start singing in my head or my grocery list appears out of nowhere and I begin to talk my way through it. Before you know it, I’ve filled the Holy Space I wanted with racket that I could do without! Tell me I’m not alone! “He leads me beside still waters”. “Be still and know.” You see? God’s been trying to teach me that “Silence is Golden” all along. Now all I have to do is listen. I think I’ll take that challenge! How about you?
*Since I’m gone for a few days, I decided to recycle a past post that fits the prompt and is a lesson I’m still learning.
Well Cindy, this reminds me of the old adage “Silence is golden, but who wants to be that rich”… lol But as I get older I have learned to listen more than talk too, or at least I try with people. With God, I am ever on the alert for messages so tend to listen more because nothing thrills me more than a message from him! However, it’s a challenge I know. You are not alone. xo