How NOISY are you?!

So... you know I go to church!

I go with a whole lot of other people and all of us have responsibilities to lead, guide, teach and direct the work of the Lord.

It's quite wonderful and it's ever-changing!

An example of this would be how I used to be responsible for over 250 young women.  My presidency and I would plan huge camps and conferences designed to uplift them and bring them closer to Christ.  We did that for about 3 years and it was absolutely wonderful!

GUESS what I do now ...

I blow bubbles!

(Ty assisted me one day)

I take care of the 2 and 3 year old kiddos in our ward every Sunday, with my friend Sarah.  There are 7 little people and it's awesome!!  Our goal for the year is to help them recognize Jesus and learn to sit in chairs, while being reverent.  It sounds easy enough ... but let me assure you, it is NOT ... but snacks make the chairs easier to take!

You might ask if I feel demoted ...

I knew I'd be released from the Young Women eventually and now I feel absolutely HONORED to take care of Heavenly Father's most precious!  

Among those 7 little people is a boy who is quite a character and I adore him.  He's wiggly but then again, they ALL ARE!  He doesn't appreciate learning to sit on chairs!  He prefers laying on the floor and sometimes I wish I could lay there too! It's amusing!

We have 2 rooms in our church building for these little tykes, the TOY room and the LESSON room. You might be surprised to know the LESSON room is the favorite!

Yesterday, while the rest of us were in the toy room, our wiggly little boy had snuck into the lesson room and was quietly sitting on one of the chairs we had arranged in a half circle. He was all alone, it was quiet and he was still as could be.  

It was super cute, super surprising and a sweet reminder of a lesson the Lord taught me last week.  I'm a slow learner apparently ... lots of lessons being learned around here!

So let me ask you this question,

    ARE YOU ...   

I consider my life to be pretty quiet, here in the Empty Nest!  During the day I rarely turn on the TV or any other kinds of noise.  So yeah, I thought I was quiet.

With that said...

As I live my "quiet life" right now, I am in the middle of something!!  It requires some SERIOUS inspiration as it is a very spiritual in nature!!  It is seriously,

I'm going to share it with you soon, but not today!

I pray every morning as I try to work on it.  I pray to feel inspired, but it just hasn't been coming!  I have been super frustrated!!

So the other morning, inspiration and ideas were suddenly FLOODING my mind, seriously FLOODING!!  I was writing them down as fast as I could!!!  Then...

I yelled out and shook my fists, 

"Are you kidding me??!!!!!"

I grabbed a pen and notebook and started frantically writing down everything I could remember from my dream!!

Seriously, this realistic dream thing is getting a little out of hand!

The Lifeguard looked at me in puzzlement!!  It was 6:30 AM ... which is BEYOND early for me to be up and moving. I rushed to my computer and began typing as fast as I could.  I spent HOURS there, typing and studying! I would research things and they would just appear.  My mind was like a machine being Divinely inspired.

IT WAS

It was what I had been praying for!!

After a few hours, I picked up my phone and ... 

it all left me!  

I quickly laid it back down and immediately the inspiration resumed.

A few hours later I picked it up again ... 

GONE!  

No inspiration!

The phone... the phone ... something was up with the phone!  The evidence was so obvious that it caused me to stop, put the phone down again and ponder.

It was then I realized why idea's had flooded me in the night ... it was the only time my MIND was not noisy.  It was the only time I wasn't physically attached to ... my phone!  To my utter sadness, it was the only time I could hear the spirit.

I put my head in my hands in shame at this realization.  I once preached to 250 young women about this very thing. 

 I once told them that, although our phones may be silenced and not making any OUTSIDE NOISE ... the noise they caused inside our minds was LOUD and INTRUSIVE.

I once asked them to be quiet for a whole afternoon, to not even talk.  Many told me they couldn't do it ... I told them they could ... I told them I believed in them!

They trusted me and the results were quite HUMBLING, followed with lots of tears as these young women were able to receive answers to prayers and questions they'd been seeking for a long time.

Those 250 young women were willing to hush their minds.  They were willing to ...

  Well here I am ... living a life full of such loud INTERNAL NOISES ... through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat ... that I can't hear the promptings I have so desperately been asking Heavenly Father to provide me with.

I told the Lifeguard of my realization to which he reminded me that ...

True statement right there!

The promptings of the Spirit will come if we INVITE them and 

MAKE ROOM 

for them ... but they will never force their way into our lives!

I've decided to take my cell phone out of my pocket and not make it my constant companion anymore.  I NEED THE SPIRIT so I'm making room and taking time to be truly

Do you know there are 15,372,337 members of my church and not a single one is paid for their service? Pretty cool isn't it?!  CLICK HERE for an explanation!