Denise Hildreth

I’ve bit off more than I can chew. Which wouldn’t be so bad if I wasn’t teaching a Bible Study on “hearing” God. But when I planned my Winter/Spring schedule, I’m not sure how much I considered His opinion, if I’m simply being honest. And then I go into frantic, overwhelmed, slightly break-down, full blown tears mode and drink more Cokes than I should. And I just this weekend discovered that I can no longer drink Cokes past ten, which just gave me a whole new set of issues to be concerned about.

But what is it in us that doesn’t realize we can really take everything to God? I’m reading John Eldredge’s Walking with God for the second time and I’m reminded how we really can take anything to our Father. Even our schedule. And sometimes in His mercy He will give us forced rest. Not that we see it as mercy. We see it as a huge disruption to our schedule. But He does have a way of “making” us rest. “He makes” me lie down in green pastures.

Two years ago after substituting a class of fifth graders I ended up in the ER with two bags of IV fluids. (Have you ever wondered if you could drown from too much IV? I know, crazy, but I’m not that big and when I watched all of that liquid going into my body, it made me wonder where in the world I was going to put that- but that has absolutely nothing to do with this post.) But after I got out of the hospital I was still almost 10 days in the bed. Did you hear that! 10 days in the bed! I rarely know how to stay in the bed past six am. And yet, somewhere around the fourth day, after I had bemoaned until I was even tired of myself, I realized, “maybe this is exactly what I need.” And I settled in to simply enjoying my Father and rest.

I realize now as I look at the demands on my schedule that there is a reason God often “makes” us rest. Because we are so pitiful at doing it ourselves. Even our Sabbath’s have turned into another work day. (Please know all fingers are pointing at me.) So, I’m confessing. Mostly so that I can have a clear conscience to start my week, but also as a reminder to myself, that if I am willing to ask God what He desires to be on my schedule, that I’m pretty certain He’ll answer. My time really is nothing but a gift from Him to steward well, and oh how often I have managed it so poorly.

So, may we ask Him. May we be willing to say no, even to some thing we love if necessary. But more importantly may we be willing to listen. Because He always has an answer…

Beginning tonight at the Westhaven Clubhouse from 6-8 Shari Lacy and I will start a Writer’s Workshop. We’ve decided to title it “Writing a Piece NOT just Your Mother Would Love.” Since we all know our mama’s love everything we write. Well, not necessarily mine. When I killed off one of my character’s in The Will of Wisteria, she called to tell me how glad she was she had read it before it went to print, so I could edit that part of the story line.

I love her, but my story stayed the same. But so many of us have this secret desire to write a story. And some of us it’s not so secret:) So, me and my friend Shari Lacy, who is an amazing writer and publicist, decided to combine our talents, and our friends and bring together some of the best Editors- Agents- and Writers in the business for a 7 week interactive course on writing.

We will discuss everything from blogging to magazine article writing, to non-fiction and fiction- to how to get your book in the hands of an agent. We know what it is to have someone believe in us and we thought we’d take some time to help others in the adventure of telling their stories.

We start tonight at 6 pm with the Editor of Southern Expostures Magazine. The cost for the entire course is 110.00. If you are interested in being a part of this with us, please email shari@goodstuffpr.com. We’d love to see you there!

I’ve always said I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I think I’m going to quit professing that over myself because it seems to be coming true more often. I think I’m going to start saying “my word girl, you’re smart!” But, it took me a while to really understand what the message was for our new Bible Study semester that begins this Wednesday.

Now, I’m certain if you knew the title was “He Who Has Ears to Hear Let Him Hear.” You would think it was pretty clear. But it wasn’t until the other day that the message for me was so evident. That this is a year God wants me to “listen”. And I realized that was the real message in this new study.

I’ve always said, “God is always speaking.” Yet, I run into my other thought that tells me, “There are some times when God is silent.” And those seasons often cause us to press into Him, because we become desperate to hear Him. But maybe both can co-exist. Because I believe often God’s loudest words can be His silence. The question is what is our heart really hearing?

So many times we default to the mentality that He has left us, abandoned us, believe it proves the belief that He didn’t really care about us anyway. But what if His silence was His effort to woo us. To invite us into His story. We love creating our story and then begging Him to figure out how to get into the middle of it. But so seldom do we press in asking Him what is He writing and how can we get in the middle of it.

The message for me this season of my life is to be a better listener. Really hear people. Their hearts, their stories, what their really saying. Not simply listen with ears that have already predetermined my answers. But listening to others while I’m listening to my father. Asking Him, “Lord, what would  you have me say to her to him? What is your heart for them? Not what is my opinion.”

So often our responses come manufactured and seemingly laced with our prejudices because they are formulated by only our experiences. But really listening can take our experiences and allow them to be shaped by our Father’s love and wisdom and discernment and then give the response He would desire. Every heart longs to be heard…truly heard. Every person longs to be seen…truly seen. And very often we see people the most when we listen. Are you? Are you listening?