Be Still

Be still! Only 2 words yet they can be so powerful when spoken by an authoritative command to a restless toddler, a noisy teenager or a misbehaving child at church. Sometimes they listen right away and obey, other times they ignore it and go right on doing what they shouldn't be doing. We have 7 people living here in Storeyland and believe me it can get pretty noisy at times. The children often try to overpower each other and when one starts to get loud it isn't long before the other 4 are trying to add more volume and next thing you know you can't hear what anyone is saying because it's just babble. Eventually, one of us has to say "Be still!" or "Be quiet" reminding them to use their manners and wait for their turn to talk. Sometimes, I just want to run away from all the noise and I'm sure Hubby feels that way at times too. We treasure those quiet moments with our children when we can really get to know them in a deeper way. It is something we do not want to take for granted. You know we are often like our children when it comes to our relationship with our heavenly Father. We don't always listen and often have a hard time being still.

One warm wintry morning recently, I was watching the children wait for the bus. For some reason, they were being very quiet. The photo you see with this post was one I took later that day. I couldn't resist adding the scripture on it that God spoke to me. The sun was rising up casting it's golden glow over our front yard and I begin to reflect on the goodness of God. I was thinking about how much I wanted to get to know him more. I've been serving God for over 20 years now yet I still want to go deeper in my relationship with him. Psalms 46: 10 immediately came to mind! "Be still and know that I am God!" I realized in my busy life I needed to find more time to just be still and allow God to work on some area's of my life that I had been neglecting. I needed to shut out the noise of the world and all the other distractions around me so I could hear that still small voice speaking to my heart. It's so easy in this day and age to be distracted. It makes me wonder, does God ever get lonely for us? Just to give him our undivided attention.

With technology today, the whole world is at our fingertips robbing us of the time we once had just to fellowship face to face with God and with other people. I am a people person, and I love Facebook. I usually leave it running all day, checking periodically for messages. I book my photography appointments through it and rely on it a lot for communication. It's a great way to connect with long lost relatives and friends. I have a lot of family and friends that live far away and I truly believe that if God were here on earth. He'd join Facebook just so he could communicate with some of us! It's so easy to get caught up in catching up with everyone on that site. This year, I am trying also to have a balance to not only catch up with them there but actually invite them over for a meal, or go out for a coffee with them, visiting them or doing a fun activity with them. I don't want to loose that 'old fashioned' fellowship with people I hold close. Personally, I refuse to go on Facebook while I am in the house of God to worship him and be fed by his word. I've often wondered what I would do if I were on Facebook during a church service and God actually wrote on my wall like he did on the wall of the kings palace in the old testament! "Hey, I miss my time with you. I love you so much! Can't you even set aside a couple of hours for me? After all, YOU came to MY house to visit ME! Get off of Facebook and worship me! Then you can go home, update your status and tell of the miracles I performed in your life today, or the prayers that I answered. Maybe you can also share the blessing you got or the healing I gave you with your friends online!" Wow, I think I would probably feel bad that I was choosing to catch up with my friends instead of catching up with God. It certainly makes you think doesn't it? Please don't be offended if your reading this blog and you use Facebook in church. This is a personal conviction I have and I just felt to share it because it goes along with this post. God's been dealing with me on a personal level when it comes to being still and knowing that he is God.

I am reminded of a story I heard one time about a young lady who God woke up out of a deep sleep at the crack of dawn and compelled her to go outside. She obeyed but wondered why God would want her to do that. She just couldn't see any purpose in it. The sun begin to rise and as she watched the sky explode in to gorgeous colors, she heard a still small voice say, "Thank you for watching the sunrise with me today, I may be God but I still get lonely to spend time with my children." I really do believe that God hungers for us to give him our undivided attention. I have learned that when I do that, I am amazed by the things I learn from his word and even at times I can hear him speak to me with so much love. If it's been a while since you've shut in with God in a secret place, I encourage you to do that. Don't allow the cares of this life to become so loud that they drown out his voice. He loves you and he misses you! He is waiting with arms opened wide for you to come to him. All he wants is for you to be still and to know that he truly is your God!

"Let all those that seek thee, rejoice and be glad in thee;

and let such as love thy salvation say continually,

Let God be Magnified!"

Psalm 70:4

Storeyland News

Yay! Alex finally lost his tooth!

Anyone that's been following my blog knows

that the Twins were in a competition as to who

would be the first one to loose their FIRST TOOTH!

Emily was the winner, she lost hers in November

much to Alex's dismay. He tried everything he could

to loose his tooth first, from tying a string on it and yanking

to eating apples nonstop and finally, a couple of days after

Christmas his hard work payed off. He was so excited that

he had to call as many people as he could think of

to let them know!

Christmas 2010

Dear Family and Friends:

Christmas 2010 was the most unusual Christmas The 7 Storey's have ever encountered. In the hustle and bustle of Chrismas programs, shopping and preparing for the holidays, our province experienced an unusual rain storm! When we should have been dumped upon by huge piles of snow here in the North, we were instead being soaked with torrents of rain all over the Maritimes. There was flash flooding in several different area's and unfortunately it hit home, literally. I had actually started a blog post right before Christmas, but never got the chance to finish it so I decided to just post a new one.

We had gotten so much rain that our basement flooded badly. It destroyed our furnace, hot water tank, our Tristar vacuum cleaner among other house hold items. Some things were sentimental and just can't be replaced. It was difficult mourning the loss of those things but that's exactly what they were, things. Due to the mild temperatures, we were ok at home for a few days. We only had a couple of small heaters as a source of heat. We huddled around them in the living room but as the temperatures dropped lower, we were forced to move out and live in a hotel for a few days until a furnace arrived. Through it all, despite the fact things were in chaos and it was so close to Christmas, I was so thankful that we were safe and alive. It could have been so much worse. My cousins who live about an hour away ended up with over 5 ft of water in their homes and now are homeless as the flood destroyed all of their things. Currently, as I write this, my brother is still living in a hotel waiting for repairs on his home due to flood damage that was discovered after Christmas. My cousins are still dealing with the uncertainty of their situations as well. I ask that you keep these flood victims among many more in your thoughts and payers because a lot of people lost everything during what should have been the most joyous holiday of the year. We were fortunate to get home 2 days before Christmas and were scrambling at the last minute to get things prepared for our 5 children. I have to say, that it never ceased to amaze me how God provided and took care of my family through this disaster.

When funds were low and we only had one gift to give to each child as Christmas Day drew closer, God provided. When I wasn't sure if I'd get any baking done for company, God provided. When we weren't sure how the children were going to get from the little town we were staying in, to the country where their school was due to one vehicle, God provided. When we didn't know where our next meal would come from or snacks for the children's lunch, God provided! When we thought we'd have to take care of all the damages all on our own, God provided. I could list many examples of how God came through for us as we were tossed to and fro from all of this. He definitely is our JEHOVAH JIRAH... OUR PROVIDER! I want to say again to all of our Angels who helped us during this difficult time of our life a huge THANK YOU! We love and appreciate you all. Our prayer is that God blesses you abundantly for your giving. I love how we can depend on God to move in any given situation and lean on his word. We certainly held on to these scriptures:

Psalms 37: 23-26

23. The steps of a man are established by the Lord when he delights in his way

24. Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, the Lord upholds his hand

25. I have been young and now I am old yet I have not seen his righteous forsaken nor his children begging for bread.

26. He is ever lending generously and his children become a blessing.

If you are currently facing a disaster of your own, I encourage you to lean on these promises. God will provide and he does have a plan. He cares! One of my favorite quotes is "Sometimes He calms the storm and other times he calms his child. You can have peace but it only comes when you begin to be thankful for your situation and start trusting that he is going to work it all out for the greater good.

When the children told us this was the best Christmas ever, all I could do is weep. It touched my heart deeply to see them wrapping up some of their toys for other young flood victims who lost everything! We truly saw the spirit of giving this Christmas Season every where we went and our lives were changed because of it.

I remember one particular day, I had the girls with me at the mall. I had some pocket change so I told them I'd get them a hot chocolate and treat myself to a coffee. We were standing in line behind a sweet little lady that has taken a shine to our family. She lives in a seniors complex and has no family here. They all live over sea's. She was using a Tim Horton's Gift Card to pay for her coffee. The girl waiting on her informed her that there was nothing left on it. My daughter looked at me and said exactly what I was thinking, "Mommy, lets buy her drink" I smiled and took the last $10 out of my wallet. I believe that God compelled me to reload her gift card. My girls eyes got huge because they were aware of our flood situation and that funds were extremely tight, however I didn't hesitate. Not only did I want to obey God but I wanted to show them that it is more blessed to give than to receive. I used it as a teachable moment. You should have seen them a couple of day's later when I opened a Christmas card and inside more than double the amount I gave this dear lady plus a Tim's Card with the exact amount I gave her on it! To them it was a complete miracle and greatly increased their faith in God. So, I encourage you... give if you can and trust God because he will see you through. If he did it for us, he'll do it for you because He is no respecter of persons. He treats us all the same and loves us beyond what we could ever imagine.

GOD IS ALWAYS ON TIME AND HE IS GOOD!!!

We got to visit with family and spent the rest of our holidays, doing some flood aftermath clean up. We also got to spend some time with my precious Mother who was really missing Dad this Christmas. Dad was out west due to work and wasn't able to come home. As I mentioned earlier, it was the most unusual Christmas ever but I echo what my children said... It was also the BEST one ever!!

Love and Prayers;

The 7 Storeys