Okay, Breathe.

Hello friends! My name is Jenn (JLI) of Bluu Hippo Blog and it is my pleasure to be here today to guest post for AE!

I thought and thought of something creative to blog, but came up empty, so I decided to resurrect a post from December 2010 that is particularly fitting in my life right now, and maybe yours too.

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Breathing. It's essential to life. And yet, life so skillfully robs us of the moments we need to breathe.

I don't know where the days go, sometimes. What am I accomplishing? Anything?

I'm crushed on every side, once again. In some ways, it's a beautiful thing. For all the good things I'm doing - serving, giving, creating - I am thankful. It's when the devil dangles the carrots of deceit before me, attempting to lure me away from peace, solitude and reflection. When it comes to the matters of life that I need to give myself completely to, I fall into the devil's traps and I'll be the first to admit it. I just don't happen to like it, is all.

I need to say 'yes' to moments of solitude and quietness and say 'no' to wasted minutes filled with useless garbage before I get completely disconnected from the vine.

We read devotions about setting apart time for God - alone time. We hear countless Christians give testimony about how their lives were filled with the useless garbage and then they began to ration their hours more appropriately. But how? Some days it just doesn't feel like there are enough hours to get everything done, even when you whittle down to the necessary things: your personal life and your spiritual walk. When those rare moments do occur for stillness and peace, we want to replace them with sleep because of how taxing the "necessary" hours can be on us.

I know God is not the author of confusion and by all accounts, this post certainly lends itself to confusion through and through.

So, all I can think of to meditate on right now is this:

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

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It has been my great honor and pleasure to be given the chance to share my ramblings with you all today. I hope that today, you are breathing in joy, peace and hope and exhaling words of praise, gratitude and love!