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Breathe Part Two

Last month, I wrote a post about taking the time to break free from the noise in our life and rest in God's presence. Since writing that post, I have been working on praying rather than stressing, and being a bit better about going to bed at a reasonable time. However, I was still feeling stressed until two weeks ago, when I was home sick from work for two days.

I work as a paraeducator in a K-2 special ed classroom. There are two paras in our room, which serves 12 students in 5 different homerooms. The two of us are kept quite busy, and it was quite stressful for me times that the other para was gone. So the first day I was sick, it was quite hard for me to stay home because I knew how much I was needed to help things run smoothly. Then the next morning, I was still sick. I didn't want to stay home another day, but I knew that rest is what I needed, so I made sure to get it. I was nervous about putting my coworkers in a stressful situation due to my absence, but when I returned, it was to find that things went smoothly even though I wasn't there, so I had been worried for nothing.

Then two days later, I went to a Newsboys concert. I had been excited to attend the concert ever since I had first heard about it, and was glad I was feeling better so I could attend. However, there was one problem: those two days of being sick had left me with practically no voice. I couldn't sing along with all the Newsboys songs I love so well. While I was saddened by that turn of events, I discovered that without the ability to sing along, I was focused more on what the songs were saying. I found myself engulfed in more pure worship that I participated in with my ears and heart rather than my mouth. Without singing along, I was able to hear God speaking to me through the songs, and was able to breathe in His presence. Not only that, but I was inspired to do my part to help bring revival to America through my love for others, and by submitting a story about Christ for a writing contest I'm entering soon.

I didn't want to be sick for two days and go to a concert without much of a voice. However, those two things have taught me to trust God more fully and to take time to listen to Him, and those are lessons I can continue to apply to my life through any challenge I may face.
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