I had a couple of ideas for this post earlier in the week, during my blogging break. Since I was on a break, naturally I didn't write those posts. A few minutes ago, I sat down and began to write one of them. It was blah. Contrived. Right now I just am not feeling what I felt when the idea came to me. The inspiration is gone. So here I sit. My girls are in bed alseep (or at least almost there). All is quiet. Phil has gone to a meeting. The skies outside are beginning to clear following a late afternoon rain shower. It is quiet. I know I said that before, but it is just so nice to sit here in the silence that I had to say it again.
Peace.
It's easy to think of peace in moments like this, sitting alone with my thoughts. For this brief window of time, no one needs anything from me, and I can just be. But what about the other moments? We all have them in one form or another. I'll let you fill in the blanks here. Just think back over the past week to the times when you felt overwhelmed or inadequate. You know the ones.
When I have those moments, it is easy to forget that I can still be at peace in the midst of it. This is a lifelong learning process, but it's something that God has really been teaching me about in the past few months. How often do I get so distracted by the things around me that I forget the peace that my Heavenly Father longs for me to find in Him? It's not an issue of forgetting about God, but one of simply taking my eyes off of Jesus long enough for the circumstances of life to seem bigger than He is. It may not seem like that big of a deal, but I believe that it is. It is His desire that we stay focused on Him, no matter what we walk through, so that we remain in that place of peace. His peace.
You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
Isaiah 26:3-4
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
Literally minutes after I finished writing this post, my five year old got sick...the stomach virus. Those who read this blog regularly know that we went through the same thing last week with my three year old. Needless to say, I am in the midst of a great opportunity to put what I just wrote into practice. Prayers appreciated!
- Erin
