I never really listened before...

Easy Silence - Dixie Chicks

When the calls and conversations * Accidents and accusations * Messages and misperceptions *
Paralyze my mind

Busses, cars, and airplanes leaving * Burning fumes of gasoline * And everyone is running * And I come to find a refuge in the

Easy silence that you make for me * It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me * And the peaceful quiet you create for me * And the way you keep the world at bay for me * The way you keep the world at bay

Monkeys on the barricades * Are warning us to back away * They form commissions trying to find * The next one they can crucify

And anger plays on every station * Answers only make more questions * I need something to believe in * Breathe in sanctuary in the

Easy silence that you make for me * It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me * And the peaceful quiet you create for me * And the way you keep the world at bay for me * The way you keep the world at bay

Children lose their youth too soon * Watching war made us immune * And I've got all the world to lose * But I just want to hold on to the

Easy silence that you make for me * It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me * And the peaceful quiet you create for me * And the way you keep the world at bay for me

The easy silence that you make for me * It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me * And the peaceful quiet you create for me * And the way you keep the world at bay for me * The way you keep the world at bay for me * The way you keep the world at bay

Okay, so I know that most of ya'll aren't country fans, but this song kind of hit me as something that I needed today. I've had the CD for months, but I usually skip over this particular song, because I hadn't really listened to it. Needless to say, I won't be skipping over it anymore.
Anyway, it really was a rather trying week at work. Last week, we had two people quit, which brought us down to 12 people to run the whole store. To put this into perspective, the downtown center does about 40K more than us per month, on average, they bring in LESS controllable PROFIT, and they have 22 people to run their store. On an average day by 10am they have more people working at the same time than we have on our ENTIRE payroll. Anyhow, the fact that we are now down FIVE people caused us to have to move our graveyard people to days so that we have enough people to actually function. While this means that all of the jobs that normally got done at night, now have to be done during the day. Amazingly enough, we have been able to get it all done, even though we're starting to pick up business again. (Summer is the slow season.) On top of all of this, we had an audit today, which did not go as well as we would have liked, AND I continue to have major attitude problems coming from a couple of team members on my shift. On Monday, we are planning on writing one of them up, which I suspect will make next week even LESS pleasant than this week. UGH.
Anyway, with all of that on my mind, I get in the car to come home today, on my Friday, and I put on the CD. And I just let it go from the beginning. This song is the second song, and once it got to the chorus, I started to think about the "easy silence" that Jesus has for me. Even after the crappiest week at work, I still have His easy silence to turn to, to fall into, to soak up. I always have a whole weekend to relax and escape all the "calls and conversations," "accidents and accusations," and "messages and misperceptions." I was also reminded of the way Jesus "keeps the world at bay" for me. Even though I may feel close to breaking down sometimes, I always know that he is not giving me more than I can handle--that he is there to shield me from all that I cannot handle.
Thank you, Jesus for your easy silence.