Silence

Today I have the privilege of hosting, Teri Johnson, of Keeping it Personal. Teri values transparent relationships and leads others to deeper honesty and growth. My friendship with Teri has done all that and much more in my life.
Please welcome her to Jesus & My Orange Juice by following her here, liking her here and reading her here. You too will find your life richer for having made the connection.

You can also find me blogging at her site today, so be sure and visit today and many days in the future!
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I'm overwhelmed -- I don't hear you. “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look." Job 30:20 I ask you to lead me, guide me, show me...what is my next step? You brought me here, to this place. Now what? Why are You silent? Why do I feel that You're gone, when I know in the depth of my heart You are here?
 
 
"... for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6
 
 
What am I missing...from Your silence? I'm a broken record praying these words, pleading for you to speak loudly to me. "Father, Open my eyes to see, open my ears to hear, open my heart to know. Show me! I am willing and desire to do Your will not mine. Amen."
 
 
Silence.
 
 
Okay...I'm getting it. I think. Is this what you want me to hear? To do? To know?
 
 
"Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10

How can I be still, when the world around me is going 100 mph? How can I be still when life seems to be all about what we do? How can I be still when I really never have, and it doesn't feel comfortable, I doesn't seem acceptable?
 
 
This word still, seems distant and unfamiliar to me.
 
 
Still = calm, motionless, quiet. Free from sound or noise; silent. Hushed. Peaceful. Tranquil.
 
 
Okay...I'm getting it. Turn it off, ALL of it. Eliminate the distractions. Pay no attention to what others are doing. Log of and disconnect. Stop checking in with everyone. Turn off the ringer and the notifications. Silence the voices and audience of many.
 
 
And...finely tune into The audience of ONE.
 
 
Okay...I got it. I'm leaning into you. Teach me Father to truly be still and know. I'm willing to listen in your silence.
 
 
I got it.
 
 
“There are times when silence has the loudest voice” - Leroy Brownlow
 
 
Do you know how to be still in this fast paced world? What do you hear when God is silent?

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/colloidfarl/2911216392/
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Teri is a writer, speaker, and sought-after personal growth expert. Her unique strategies have helped transform the lives of her clients, enlightening, guiding and motivating them to achieve even their most deeply desired goals.
She is the President and Founder of Keeping It Personal, a company that specializes in self-development training and discovering your life purpose. She facilitates her clients, who range from executives to hard working stay-at-home moms, through, “The Ultimate Journey”, a course focused on unpacking self deception, to freedom from old destructive behaviors, discover and develop their truth, goals, and most importantly, accomplish them. Through her mentoring and life coaching, Teri’s clients have found personal growth and joy allowing them to improve relationships, decrease stress and anxiety, and move forward in their business and personal life, and more.
Her book, Overcoming The Nevers, will be available in October, 2011. You can learn more about Teri and her book by visiting her personal website http://terijohnson.com Be inspired daily by signing up to receive The Daily KIP…a little nugget of truth she writes at http://keepingitpersonal.com
Teri is social! Meet her on Facebook at http://fb.com/keepingitpersonal and http://fb.com/terijohnsonwrites -- you can also find Teri on Twitter http://twitter.com/keepitpersonal

9 comments:

  1. Great job, Teri. I share the difficulty you mentioned. The world is going so fast and it seems that if I don't follow the pace I will be left behind. I don't want to be in last place. Then I remember the race I'm running is for a different goal. The prize I'm after isn't tangible, yet. Pressing on as Paul tells us requires intentionally turning it all off and gazing upon the one who makes all things new. Thanks for the reminder. I've been struggling with this lately.

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  2. "finely tune into The audience of ONE." I needed this reminder, thank you Teri :) Nice to "meet" you today!

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  3. Ali, love this "The race I'm running is for a different goal." Let's keep our eye on the real prize!

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  4. Heidi, oh how I want to be aware of the audience of One.

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  5. Thank YOU Ali for sharing...me too...struggling with being still -- I'm realizing it, so that's the GREAT thing, but STILL is oh such a challenge for me. I LOVE what you said --> The prize I'm after isn't tangible, yet. <-- I know, RIGHT? We keep pressing on, focusing on our audience of one...doing our best to drown out the noise...oh the noise.

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  6. Nice to meet YOU too Heidi! I think we ALL need that reminder from time to time...thank YOU for sharing your comment. =)

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  7. Hello Shannon,

    I found your blog via someone else's and enjoyed browsing. Thank you for letting me stop by.

    I think I recognize Tery from meeting her at She Speaks this last July. I think we had breakfast together. Funny. I'll have to track her down. Thanks.

    Thank you for your blog here. What a fun title too!

    Jennifer Dougan
    www.jenniferdougan.com

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  8. Hi Jennifer -- I think we DID have breakfast together!! It was a whirlwind...those few days meeting SO many amazing women. =) I hope you're doing well.

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  9. Jennifer, this is so fun - like a mini She Speaks reunion. I was there too! Next year we'll have to make a breakfast date!!

    Thanks so much for your visit - I am honored!

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I love hearing from you! Thank you for your comments!