2 Hours of Silence, 22 Days Until We Leave Uganda

This past weekend I went with the ladies from my Bible study on a weekend getaway! We went to a beautiful island in the middle of Lake Victoria. After an hour and 15 minute boat ride on the choppy waves, we finally reached the gorgeous island (completely drenched and happy to be on dry land again!). What a fantastic view.

We had a great weekend talking, laughing, eating way too much (the food was AMAZING!), playing games, swimming, and taking walks. It was so much fun!

On Sunday morning we all went our separate ways to spend about two hours alone in silence and solitude. This was the hardest part of the weekend for me. For those of you who know what’s going on in our lives right now you know we are so busy! We are preparing to leave Uganda in only 22 days and there are LOTS of things to be done. We also have many uncertainties in our lives right now. We haven’t even purchased our on hold plane tickets to come home yet because we are still waiting on Eloise’s visa (although we have been assured we will get it soon…let’s hope!). We are moving to Boston in the fall but still have not found a place to live and Drew still doesn’t have a job. We are stepping out on faith. We trust in the Lord’s faithfulness, but oh how hard situations like these are on the heart and mind!

During my 2 hours of solitude on the island, I was supposed to spend about 30 minutes doing and thinking NOTHING…just letting God speak to and move me. I tried my hardest but it was nearly impossible to do! I kept thinking of every thing I have to do. Buy plane tickets. Pack. Post list of for sale items. Pack. Write Suzy’s letter of recommendation. Pack. Prepare for the ARA sale. Pack. Respond to 50 e-mails. Pack. Buy gifts to bring back. Pack. The list goes on and on…

As hard as it was to do, being still and silent was a good exercise for me in this busy time of life. As I sat and tried my best to slow my mind down, the Lord reminded me of this: “Even when I stop, God does NOT stop. He can accomplish His will even without my help!” The whole world did not self destruct just because I took a few hours to not think about or do what I need to do. Whoda thunk it?!?

Our solitude study guide had this quote from Dallas Willard in it: “And ‘doing nothing’ has many other advantages… possibly the gentle Father in the heavens would draw nigh if we would just be quiet and rest a bit. Generally speaking, He will not compete for our attention, and as long as we are ‘in charge’ he is liable to keep a certain distance.”

My prayer that day was (and still is) that God would slow down my mind so that I can accomplish HIS will through me today and every day to come!