Lead A Quiet Life...

‎"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody" -1 Thessalonians 4: 11-12.

I was emailed this verse today by a sweet woman whose emails I always look forward to receiving. Once a week, sometime on a Monday, she emails a few other girls and me to let us know she's praying for us. She basically tells us what God has put on her mind. The emails are extremely refreshing and bring peace to my chaotic day. Sometimes she challenges us to do something...sometimes she tells us a verse...sometimes neither.

Well this verse really spoke to me today. It's the first time I remember reading it, and it made me stop and think. We (no matter at what age or stage in life we're at) constantly feel the pressure to...say something funny, talk to someone, be constantly doing something, etc. And we often feel the pressure to be popular. I have never considered myself a "popular" person...I am certainly NOT the extrovert vying for everyone's attention...and I'm not so much the "life of the party." But, I definitely do NOT try and "mind my own business." I try and know everything about everyone. Something I need to work on apparently!

The first person that popped into my head when I read this was my dad. Our personalities are very similar...fairly introverted, people-pleasing kind of person. But in my eyes, he and my mom are the type of people that this verse is describing. My parents lead pretty quiet lives...they're hard workers in whatever they do and they're at home more often than not on the weekends. When getting ready for school (you know, back when I went to school at the crack of dawn!), my dad would be in the living room spending time with God. My parents don't try to get into everyone's business, and they have the respect of many people. Thanks mom and dad for setting such a great example for me (and Sam and Jack)...you've done such a good job, I think of you guys when I read verses like these!

But think about this verse...and ask yourself if you lead the quiet life that we're called to.