Empty and ready to listen...

The students left last night, actually this morning at around 3am. It was tough. There were long hugs and tears coming lots of them. I felt so sad to see them go, yet so proud of all that they've learned. But the things they taught me. Patience. Kindness. Flexibility. Patience, and more patience. You give until it hurts, and then the pain is no more, instead there is love.

The Kartause is a lot more quiet now. There are still a handful of students remaining. Some of them are my staff. Some are students leaving early next week. But I feel the quiet. Even being in my office right now, the silence speaks to me. Finally things have slowed down, and now it's time to pray and reflect. These times are so crucial, because these times come so very rare in life.

I know now that the Lord is calling me to be more attentive to what He is speaking to me.

We cannot be afraid of the silence. So many of us, including myself, drown out the silence. We don't like it, because of several things:

1) We are not used to it. We don't know what to do when we have it.
2) We are too busy for it. We don't take the time to actually have it.
3) We are afraid of what happens when we have it.

I think the third thing is one that all of us can relate to. I know that there are times when we are finally still and quiet, and what happens? The stuff that we keep pressing down into our hearts and ignoring finally speaks to us. My friend said it best, "When you don't make time to listen to your stuff, the stuff starts speaking to you." What are we ignoring? Why are we afraid of being still and listening? What are we afraid of what God is going to tell us?

Brothers and sisters... I believe that God has something to say to us this Advent season. Please take the time to listen to it. It may be a reminder. It may be a whisper of love for you. He may want to comfort you. He may be trying to heal you from your past. He may want you to change some things in your life. It may make you uncomfortable. It may not be what you want to hear. But I promise you that there is a God. He is real. He loves you. He wants you to know that. Take the time today to listen to Him.