Breath. It was breath that God breathed into a man made of dust and made him come alive. Alive…whole…in perfect communion with God.
At the end of Sept last year, as I sat down to intentionally take a quiet few moments to pray about the write 31 days challenge for October, I took a deep breath. Time seemed to move in slow motion as God flooded my thoughts with the realization that I so often take for granted His breath of life. I so often go through the motions of life and forget to breathe. I forget to breathe Him in deeply so He can flood my senses with His fragrance.
As I experienced the fullness of Him through that deep breath of His presence, He downloaded the vision for my life and this blog. I’m ready to breathe. I’m ready to live in His abundant life and to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Him as it says in 2 Corinthians 2:14. But the only way I can truly spread His fragrance is if I’m breathing it in.
From this day forward, I’m ready to breathe and remember what is truly important. I’m ready to be intentional with my time so there is room to breathe. My personality wants to fill every second of the day with activity. In my human brain, that is what it means to be fully alive. But God has shown me that His fullness of life comes when we take the time to breathe and give Him space. We are fully alive when we live and work out of His rest instead of our strength and abilities.
My calendar isn’t empty because I haven’t filled it in yet. It’s empty because aside from our anniversary this month, there’s nothing to fill in. My husband and I are intentionally taking extra time to breathe – or more accurately, ‘to catch our breath.’ It’s time for us to make sure our priorities are in correct order and that we’re making decisions based on what is best for those priorities. It’s time for us to finally get our house in order so that our surroundings reflect calmness instead of chaos. It’s time for us to have room for us.
So although it’s a week past the official start of this New Year, I raise my glass of sparkling cider (or maybe my glass of two sips of sparkling wine since I’m such a light weight 😉 ) and propose a toast to 2015 and beyond – to setting healthy boundaries, to saying no when necessary so I can say yes to what really matters, to more deep breaths of God’s presence, to living fully alive in His joy and peace. Here’s to the best that is still yet to come.
Image Credit: Erin Kass
Wonderful! I really love this part- “We are fully alive when we live and work out of His rest instead of our strength and abilities.” My word for the year is strength, as in learning to depend on God’s strength not my own strength and abilities. Oh and my house is in desperate need of a return to calm as well. 🙂 Happy New Year!
Thanks Tobi! Happy New Year to you too 🙂
let’s all have the courage to simplify and prioritize our life
Amen!
I love this! I think we most certainly hear God better when we are still before Him and make time to be able to hear Him whisper to our souls. A great reminder to find time for this practice of quiet before Him.
Thank you Cherie! So glad you enjoyed the post 🙂
Amen to that! Girl I am with you. Here’s to more breathing room in 2015.
Yes!!! Thanks for reading Natalie 🙂
Amen! I, too forget to breathe–especially in times of stress. What a beautiful reminder that it’s important to breathe and to be silent and wait and not run helter-skelter all over the place trying to get things done. Breathing is important to quality of life :).
It’s funny how we need to think about something that comes naturally without thinking! lol. 🙂
Oh Amen! I am so for this… this taking time to breathe intentionally… this slowing down… this being aware of what you need to say no to in order to say yes to the important things! Great post!
Thanks Karrilee! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Yes!!! “Be still and know that I am God.” I think we all need to take time to breathe. I’m going to try and do more of that too!
It’s amazing how even stopping to physically take a few deep breaths can help me feel better too! Thanks for your comment Tara 🙂
I love your empty calendar! What a great idea! I’m seriously going to mention this to my husband…of course, we are the type that literally need to SCHEDULE to do nothing…together!
YES!!! It sounds nuts but I’m the same way. I have to schedule ‘nothing’! I don’t relax until my to do list is finished…and since there’s always something to do it’s hard for me to relax. When I put ‘nothing’ on my to do list then it’s something I have to ‘do’ lol
Erin! It is so good to hear from you again! I am completely in the same boat as you. My tenacious will to produce and be purposeful has been fighting the crucial need to breathe. More than anything else, I’ve been hearing lately from God that I need to listen, to be still, be small, and create space for Him. I never imagined that obeying His voice and making this choice would be so difficult, but I’m finding it’s a daily challenge! I’m so encouraged to know I’m not the only one who is on this path! Blessings to you!
Hello again! 🙂 I haven’t been very active since October but I’m planning to change that now! (and I need to catch up on your posts too 😉 ) Thanks for commenting Heather!