Stillness

Stillness is probably my favorite spiritual discipline. I crave it, I seek it, I need it.

When I was expecting my oldest child, I read an author's comment (was it Elisabeth Elliot?) that stillness and solitude were important skills for children to learn--not just for their own personal fulfillment but as worship skills.  That made a lot of sense to me, and as my family grew it was important to me that all the children took afternoon naps at the same time. Eventually they no longer needed sleep in the afternoon, but I certainly needed my time of quietness.

Now the children spend that time reading.  I plan our homeschool day around it. All the quiet individual reading time happens at the same time, and they each have their own place to be. My oldest is a very social creature but I think she may be secretly an introvert in the sense that she draws her strength and rest from her time alone reading and doing crafts.

It fascinates me how this daily time of solitude not only enhances my life (I can study the Bible or nap or sit outside with a cup of tea) but enriches my children's lives as well. My middle child is reading a series of historical fiction books. She loves to read, but won't choose reading over other activities, so an assigned reading time is essential.

I am aware that stillness does not come as naturally to many of my friends. I'd love to hear from you about how you fit stillness into your life.

Here are a two links that relate to the topic of stillness.
The online world can be noisy and distracting. Here are some things to do before going online.
I enjoyed this blogpost about finding stillness while gardening.