Be still & Botany Bay

For those of you who know me...this will not come as a surprise 

but I have a difficult time being still. 

I think one of the reasons the good Lord gave me the talent to paint 

is because I cannot do this while I am up and moving about.

But the older I get, the more I crave that time to just "be" and "be still."

This was our devotion tonight with my women's prayer group.

“Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)

How often do you just take time to sit and be still, reflecting on God’s character and his attributes, acknowledging who he is? One of the biggest barriers that keeps us from being authentic in our faith is the busyness of life. We get so caught up in “doing” that we fail to just “be.” In other words, our busy activities such as our jobs, school, Christian work, and leadership responsibilities distract us from spending time with God and just being in love with him. When we fail to spend quiet time with him praying and also just listening to God in silence, we fail to get direction from the one who has a plan for our lives, and we forget who we were created to be.

Take some time today to go somewhere and just be silent before the Lord. Think about his character, his goodness, and the mercy he showed by sending his Son to die for us. Meditate on a verse of the Bible you are memorizing, such as Psalm 46:10 above. After you spend time in silence before God, see if your perspective on life has changed. When I spend time in silence before God, he moves right up my priority list, and I remember I was created to have an authentic relationship with him. His love gives me the satisfaction my busy activities can never give me.

I love these sweet women....we've been meeting once a month for seven years.

We share praises and prayer requests. 

We share the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

We've cried and laughed for hours. 

We've been to the beach and to the mountains together.

We help each other in times of need.

We've seen miracles happen over and over again.

We hold each other accountable as sisters in Christ and we pray for each other's families.

I wish every woman had a group like the Divine Divas. 

We certainly are not divine, but we share the same love for our divine father.

One of the places I love to go to "be still" is the beach.

Wanted to share a few of the pictures from last weekend. 

I took my friends Christi and Noelle to Botany Bay while our men played golf.

The story about this place is really neat. You can read it here.

On this majestic shoreline you can find enormous conch shells as large as your hands.

By law now, no one is allowed to take any of the shells. 

Our family is among the lucky ones who were able to take one per person before this law went into effect last January so we have a basket of Botany Bay shells on our patio year round.

Now when folks find them, they decorate the trees and other various spots along the coastline.

It's just amazing to see them all lined up ...

all so unique and beautiful!

Someone was super creative with oyster shells and sand!

Watch out for this gator!

And I continue to be amazed with the details of the driftwood...

almost like patterns of a fingerprint.

No two alike...

This clam shells was stunning and extremely thick and heavy!

and a sea star was spotted as we walked back...

HERE is the link to all of my Botany Bay pictures from this last trip. 

Such a beautiful place to ponder God's creation and goodness.

I want to go back and "be still" there.

xoxo,

Caroline