Loudness or Quiet...

It's late and I don't stay up late. I spent the day at the Zoo with my son and his Kindergarten class and I'm finding myself exhausted yet here I am up late. I need to rest...to prepare my body for tomorrow's activities. I know I will regret it in the morning when I can barely find the strength to open my eyes and yet here I sit....in the quiet.

There's something peaceful to me about the quiet, yet I can't imagine life without the loudness of little voices. For it's in the quiet that I take a moment to truly treasure the gifts the Lord has given me in my little family. But, it's also in the chaos that I find a certain level of treasure that only 3 loud boys can give. In the quiet I don't see them....I don't hear them....You could almost not know if they were here. In the loudness I see them...I hear them...and I definitely know they are here. So wouldn't I rather have the loudness? Absolutely.... because even though I sometimes wonder through my exhaustion or schedule of the day how I might plow through (thank goodness for coffee!) I find that the loudness is my joy because it comes from my little men. It's not about finding the strength to make it through the day or plowing through, it's about knowing the strength is already there through Him and that life's journey's with this amazing husband and children might be loud and chaotic but it's mine and a gift from the Lord.

Learn to listen to His sweet, loving voice even amidst our loudness. For even in the midst of our personal chaotic lives, He's there asking us to just take a moment to look up and remember that we are His joy and He is ours. So even though there's a certain level of comfort in the loudness of my boys, there's a sweetness in the quiet that as I sit here undoubtedly exhausted, I know that He speaks regardless and there's joy in the both.....The question is, "Am I listening?"