peace, oh my soul

It's Christmas right around the corner.  I can't say that this year has been like any other.  Although the madness of being a two year old's mother has added challenge to finding peace in the season, it has been possible....at times.

Here I sit listening to my husband crunch ice in his teeth (a favorite habit of his) bathed in the glow of the Christmas lights, in view of a few toys scattered in the corner that I just will not be picking up this evening - thinking about Christmas.

In the shadow of the tragedy in Connecticut, I am reminded of how fleeting peace really is....peace is not the absence of trouble or hard times, it's just the presence of God during it.  How often I need to be reminded of this when I've asked Tate to stop throwing his toys, or running over them, or ramming them into the sofa, or the ottoman, or the entertainment center for the 157th time today.  Peace is God's presence in the midst of MY trouble, whatever it is.

I am in awe of the baby in the manger.  He chose to leave perfection to fulfill His Father's plan of salvation for a sin-wrecked globe.  Every year, every month, every day or moment this comes to the forefront of my mind I am really quite blown away by it.  It really makes no sense to the human mind, but that is what makes it so divine.

Emmanuel, the baby in that manger, was God WITH us.  Peace in the midst of OUR trouble in physical form.  I can only imagine the peace that filled the stable as His first cries burst out of His little body.  The joy that must have bubbled up in Mary, the swelled heart of love in Joseph his father, the expectant hope in the eyes of the shepherds.  What a night.

My prayer for myself and others is that we find this peace, joy, love and hope.  That is why Heaven sent it.  It was not to be ignored, tolerated, or debated.  It was to be FOUND.  Just as the shepherds and kings sought it, so should we.  May it be found in your hearts this Christmas and always.

God bless you and have a Merry Christmas!