by Genevieve Schmitt
Three and a half months ago, on February 1, a surgeon cut into my right calf to implant a plate and five screws alongside my tibia to repair a break I sustained six days earlier. I was skiing at Big Sky Resort while gliding around a turn on a cat track and somehow my right ski ended up in soft snow forcing me to tumble. My binding didn’t release causing a tibial plateau fracture.
The week in between the mishap and the surgery, I asked God why I didn’t hear Him that day. I always pray that God will direct my steps, and that my choices stay in line with His will for my life. I exercise a daily discipline of turning my heart toward God through His Holy Spirit inside of me to hear His still small voice or that unction in my spirit that tells me to go this way or that way, to call this person or send a text to that person, and so on. I wondered why God didn’t guide me either away from that ski run, or to not ski at all that day. When I heard the answer, I was balancing on crutches in front of my kitchen sink about to wash some dishes. “You need to quiet your life. I am speaking.”
Wait, what? Did I just hear you say that God?
I’d like to think I have a quiet life now that I’m retired from full-time work, but when I reflect on all the narratives running through my brain, I guess my mind wasn’t so quiet and I missed that divine directive from God that may have instructed me to stay home. The message I got from the Holy Spirit that afternoon in my kitchen was this: If you want to stay in step with My divine will for your life, you need to quiet your mind.
Most of us live in Park County or travel here to escape the noise of the world, the big cities, and the largeness of life “out there.” We hike trails, fish quiet waters, and travel on desolate roadways to find peace in our minds and calm for our bodies from the cacophony of voices screaming at us through smart phones, computers, and television screens. We have choices
on what we let in and what we let pass us by. How are you managing this? Apparently, I was not managing it well because I missed the most important voice that day.
The voice of God.
How I spent my Montana Winter-on crutches
When we step away from the busy-ness of our to-do lists and turn off the opinionated narratives that make up the majority of what we read, watch, and listen to, and instead turn to the voice of God, I bet you’ll find the storylines are quite different. Here’s my challenge to you: Stop allowing what “they say” to invade your mind and form your thoughts: thoughts about who you are, thoughts about what you stand for, and thoughts directing your steps that day. Your purpose, values, and direction are not defined by the ideas being spewed from so-called experts in this world. Your being and your purpose are defined by God. He made you. Yes, He did. Once you understand who divinely created you, you will crave that voice directing you in all aspects of your life. The voices of the world will mean nothing to you. What my ski accident taught me is to never go a day without hearing from God about everything. You shouldn’t either. If you want to know more, feel free to reach out. You can find my contact info on my
website below. I love you, and so does God.
Genevieve Schmitt is an awardwinning journalist who started her career in television news, then transitioned to the entertainment, and then motorcycling industries. She can be found at