Well hello… it’s been a while, hasn’t it? I hope you’ll forgive my sudden drop from the face of the earth, but I’ve been on an adventure (one whose departure date I learned of only 3 days in advance, hence my inability to leave word that I wouldn’t be around for a bit).

And what an adventure it was. Amazing. Awesome.

From the very first day, a few hours after take-off, I knew exactly what this adventure would be all about: The Struggle for Silence, Solitude, and Serenity.

And yes, though I had no previous inkling that I might have needed to engage in this particular battle, it became apparent to me soon enough that it was one fight I needed to wage and that now was the best time to do it. Too long I had been chasing speeding trains (and you know how noisy, crowded and stressful real trains can be; my proverbial ones were just as bad). Too long I had been wading through a cacophony of voices, deadlines, everyday duties and responsibilities. Too long I had allowed myself to get caught up in all the myriad little things that make up that bigger thing called “Real Life” (when in fact all those little things can be dealt with easily if you just have the 3 S’s. But somehow I lost sight of that secret, and so my life had been for far too long one insanely noisy circus).

No wonder then that it had been quite a struggle to stay serene and calm and peaceful (I admit it, I had been struggling in a major way. Have you ever woken up in the morning feeling like you have 30 seconds to hit the ground running? Like you’re panting with your tongue hanging out even if you’ve barely taken off? Like your train just sped past you and you’ll have to grab that sandwich and chomp on it as you run furiously trying to catch up? Yeah. That was kinda what my mornings were like not too long ago).

And you know, when you’re constantly running and there’s noise all around and your hair’s flying all over your face, it’s just a hop, a skip and a jump away from turning into a bunch of nerves, flustered, impatient, and easily agitated. I felt like I was getting to that place real quickly, and I knew that when I did get to that point, it would make others like me less, and it would make me like me less.

So I changed direction, with the ticket provided at short notice for me by my wonderful friend J, and arrived at Station STOP.

And I stopped. Got off. Changed directions and went a different way.

And embarked on a retreat. Literally. 🙂 A three-day spiritual journey in which the first order of the day was to find silence and solitude, and finding those (in prayer), perhaps discover serenity too.

And I’m oh so glad and oh so grateful to have been granted the grace to find all three with Him, who holds us in the palm of His hands and calls us to Him when He knows we need it most.

He says, “Hey, come to Me and rest a while. Just be with Me completely, totally, fully… and I’ll take care of everything else. You can count on Me always.” And if we hear His call and answer it, it’s just totally astounding how much He gives in return for the “little” that we offer to Him, as long as that “little” that we offer is our everything. 🙂

And so I am back, fresh and refreshed, and ready to take on the world’s trains. And even if they rush at the speed of light on some days, I know I’ll be okay, as long as I remember to keep moments of silence, solitude and serenity in my daily life. (And because we’re friends, you’ll remind me when I’m in danger of forgetting, right? 🙂 ).

Aaaaand it’s good to be back with you! What about you? How have you been these past days? Drop me a line because I’ve missed you so! And I promise I’ll be back on my blogporch regularly once more.

Big big (((hugs))) to you!

Stock photos by dolar, 13dede, and criswatk at sxc.hu: Many thanks!