This past Sunday was the second Sunday of Advent and the day slipped by without my sitting down to write down some thoughts. As we scurried through the day, I knew it was the Sunday of Peace and it wasn’t lost on me that it was a full day, but at least it was spent with friends and family.
Peace is always a tricky one. What does Peace even mean these days? No fighting between the world’s hot spots? A tranquil river flowing from the mountains? A quiet cup of tea with a friend? I’m not even sure, I think we need to define Peace for ourselves, in our own way.
Sunday’s Peace for me meant holding a sleeping child while she napped at our house, snug and warm under a blanket. It meant listening to cousins chatter easily back and forth after some big, hard months. It meant baking cookies in a home filled with love, happiness and laughter. It was the giggles of a little boy as we chased the soccer ball around a field. It meant saying yes to things that mean more changes are on the horizon. And recognizing that through all the uncertainty that it’ll all be ok… maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday we’ll look back on this season of life and see how far we’ve come.
Years and years ago, I remember seeing a comparison of what Peace was. Both pictures contained a picture of a bird’s nest. One nest was tucked in a lush, green forest, safely on a sturdy branch, exactly where you’d expect a nest to be. The other picture was of a nest built on the jagged edge of a bombed building, nothing but destruction in the background. Both momma birds sat in their nest, keeping their eggs warm. I feel like that’s the big question this year, maybe always…which is the picture of Peace? When it’s easy and the life is rolling along smoothly? Or when our world is filled with turmoil and chaos?
As I sit here and type this, I’m having an inner debate. Do I have Peace? Do I know Peace? Can I find it? There’s a low burning ‘something’ in my belly that says that I do, I have every right to be anxious and filled with apprehension and yet I’m not. Well, not all the time at least. 😉 I look out over the past and into future and see that I have been provided for in some many unexpected ways.
I have this thing with watching birds soar in the air. Especially eagles. If God is going to care for even the birds of the air, of course He’s got me. And that reassurance is what gives me Peace. Today, on an early Tuesday morning on my hand-me-down couch, while the girls sleep nearby and a snuggly cat curls up on my lap, a few days past the Advent Sunday of Peace, yeah, I think I have Peace. Peace that is an unexpected gift in these troubled times of change, of global pandemics, of life, a Peace that passes all understanding. It is my heart’s cry that you know this Peace, too, on a Sunday of Advent or an ordinary Tuesday morning.
Warmly,
Lori
{ You can read last week’s advent post HERE }
