There are some lyrics to a song I just can’t stand. Cannot stand them. I shudder and cringe just thinking about it. My mom used to sing this song when I was little. In the morning she’d burst in my pitch-dark bedroom, and with the first tone of song, flip on the light switch belting out, “Lazy Bones, sleeping in the sun, how you gonna get your day’s work done?” It felt like a slam to productivity before I even opened my eyes.
Mom didn’t mean anything by the song. She only sang it because her Aunt Florence sang it, and everyone loved Aunt Florence. Since Mom had such sweet memories of Aunt Florence singing the lyrics, she naturally thought I would too.
Only I didn’t.
And I don’t.
Not until I began writing this post, did I consider a quick Google-search to see if it really is a song. To my amazement, it is! It was released in 1933 by Hoagy Carmichael. My family modified the first line of lyric, along with the tune, but the song is Mr. Carmichael’s. Got him to thank for all those rough mornings. Kidding. But not kidding. If you know what I mean.
It’s no joke my family measured a good day based on how much you could get done. This didn’t come solely from my mom’s side. My dad frequently used phrases like, “Now we’re cooking with gas,” when we’d be knocking off to-do list items.
Being raised with this mentality has brought much benefit to my life. Whether I’m a natural go-getter, or was simply raised and developed into being one, the drive toward getting things done has resulted in some great blessings. So, I guess, Thanks, Lazy-Bones song!
The challenge is in seasons I’m called to stillness.
If not recognized, stillness can often be mislabeled as laziness.
Laziness, as the song indicates, is unproductive. But stillness is much different. Stillness can actually be quite productive if used as God directs.
Several months ago, back in March, I sat in my friend’s office sharing with her about my husband’s job. The oil and gas company he had been working for as an engineering project manager had announced a merge six months earlier. The company wasn’t going to keep an office open where we live; therefore, my husband stayed on with them through their transition period and began looking for employment elsewhere. His last day with his company coincided with the first lockdown of our lifetime. Options for employment vanished as the nation quarantined for COVID.
My friend’s voice was heavy with compassion and concern, “Heather, what are you guys going to do?”
I didn’t have an answer.
I responded with, “I don’t know. And what is more astounding is I think it’s okay that I don’t. It sounds absolutely crazy, but we just feel like God is calling us to be still.”
An ease came over my friend like a wave of realization and she said, “Yes. And you know why?”
Actually, no. I didn’t know why. Which is why I felt like it was crazy. But my friend Teresa continued, “Because when we are still we know. We know that He is God.”
Right there. Drop. The. Mic.
My friend speaking it, straight out of Scripture,
Psalm 46:10 NLT “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”
Friends, let me encourage you not to be afraid of the stillness. Let me share the correction I’ve been given that stillness is not laziness.
Still does not mean stagnant.
Still does not equate to inaction.
Still does not translate to unproductive.
Still does not result in no progress.
If God is calling you to a season of stillness, He will provide for it and He will produce something in you through it.
Praying you feel His presence, trust in His faithfulness, and are wrapped in His peace as you face seasons of stillness in your life.
Heather Meadows
….grew up on family land in rural Oklahoma. She married her high school sweetheart in 1999 and they welcomed four children into their lives over the next decade. In 2012, Heather graduated from The University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She uses her experiences of overcoming a life-threatening injury in her work as a neonatal nurse, writer, and speaker, and has shared her account of survivorship through a powerfully inspiring memoir titled Transforming Tragedy. Heather serves events, conferences, schools, businesses, banquets and churches through inspirational and motivational speaking. Heather and her husband Brandon are raising their children on the land where she grew up with her favorite black lab Ruby Sue.
