Christmas Peace

“I’m so excited to finally be on Christmas Break!”

“I just love the holidays and hate when it’s all over.”

“Christmas is my favorite holiday!”

I’ve heard several of the above statements recently. Do you agree with these? Is Christmas a beautiful, enjoyable, restful break time for you? Is it a time where you pause and think of the true meaning of Christmas? Maybe it’s a happy, yet hectic time for you made up of fun events and holiday activities? Is it a time that is busy and beautiful, yet deep down feels lonely and empty to you? This season can be any of the above. What is to you?

This year, for me, this season has been different than usual. I’ve experienced some beautiful moments, but faced some very sombering ones too. My husband faced some health issues recently which prompted a couple of trips to the ER. Those experiences and the need to try to prevent him from having any additional stress have added more to my plate. I usually get a little stressed anyway with all the shopping, events, and in general as a parent of a special needs child. I try to counter the stress by preparing in advance to have the presents bought, wrapped, ready. I try to have the holiday food menu planned, prepared ahead of time and the house deep cleaned before my son is out of school for the holidays.

There is no “holiday break” for me. Once Landon is home, it’s pretty much full time caregiving for the next three weeks until he returns to school. I truly do try to maintain a positive outlook even in the hectic times. I usually tell myself if I could survive five months of Covid pandemic when school shut down, I can survive anything. Sometimes though, my humanity reveals itself. My husband’s recent health issues added to day to day life and Christmas chaos and wham…the stress hit me pretty hard.

Then one day I heard a teacher say “I’m so happy I’m on Christmas break. Now I get to relax.”

I immediately felt a sense of envy. I said to myself “must be nice, wonder what that’s like.” In that moment, I really wished for “a Christmas break.”

It was a momentary thought that left me feeling sad. I typically am not one to have a pity party, however, I truly longed for a break. Overwhelmed is an understatement for what I was feeling. I was exhausted.

I found myself saying “God, it’s not fair. Why can’t I have a break too?”

As I prayed, I felt the Holy Spirit gently whisper, “go ahead, lie down, rest.”

So I listened.

It was the day before my son was out for Christmas holidays so I took advantage of the opportunity. I hopped up on to my extra soft bed, climbed under several blankets and closed my eyes. After a few minutes, my goldendoodle-Asher-who is my shadow- peeked over the edge of my bed and decided he needed to join me. He jumped right up onto my bed and parked himself beside me- his cream colored fur blending in with the heavy fleece blankets and quilts of the same color. Asher watched me with his knowing, brown eyes. He seemed to know I needed a break from the stress. He also seemed to know I needed a little lift and his joyful presence would do the trick. He was right. Asher just “gets me” what can I say. As I was looking at Asher piled in with me among the blankets, I felt peace slowly fill me.

In that moment, I felt God gently remind me that peace is one of the many reasons why He sent Jesus to us as a little baby many, many Christmases ago. In that moment, He reminded me His gift of peace is because of His immeasurable love for me and for you.

It’s because of His love that we can have rest and peace.

It’s because of His love that we can experience His comfort.

It’s because of His love that we are inspired to share love with others.

I don’t know what you are facing this Christmas. Maybe things are going well for you or maybe they are not. Whatever the case is, I pray you are able to rest even if it is only for a short time. I pray that as you do, God’s presence will fill your heart and mind with His peace. I pray you will experience his comfort and joy. I pray His love surrounds you and fills your heart to overflowing. As your heart is filled with these things, I pray you are inspired to share His love with all those around you. May you always know you are loved immeasurably by the Savior of the world who came to Earth as a tiny baby at Christmas.

May God bless each of you, friends, at Christmastime and always.

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. ( 2 Thessalonians 3:16)

Your friend,

Tiffany

Peace In The Waiting

I really enjoy reading devotions. The 5-day devotion plan I’m reading now is about peace (Missing Peace, YouVersion Bible). The following was today’s devotion about experiencing peace in the waiting. I know this is so hard for me to do! I have to remember that God is with me in the waiting. I pray that you experience His presence if you are in a season of waiting, too.

Your friend,

Tiffany

Peace in the Waiting

Yesterday, we talked about finding peace in the promises of God, but it’s even more difficult when you’re in the middle of waiting on God. We’ve all been in those seasons where it seems like God is showing up for everyone but you. Maybe you don’t have that job yet. Maybe you would like to be married, but your prospects seem slimmer than ever. Or maybe you’re waiting on a child while it seems like there are pregnancy announcements every day.

Whatever you’re waiting on, know that God has not forgotten you. He is with you in the waiting. In fact, Advent and the Christmas season are built on waiting—waiting for the Prince of Peace to enter the world and rescue all humanity from sin.

Can you imagine how long that wait must have felt? Approximately 750 years passed between the writing of the prophecy about Jesus in Isaiah 9:6 and the birth of Jesus. For centuries, people waited, uncertain when (or whether) God would actually deliver on His promises. Then He sent His Son, Jesus!

And now? We no longer have to wait for the fulfillment of our peace. Yet we still wait for His second coming, looking forward to the day when our God will make all wrongs right.

So, in our broken world, we experience seasons of waiting. But we know that our waiting seasons are not wasted seasons. As much as we might wish to skip forward to the fulfillment of what we hope for, it’s in the middle of our waiting that we realize who we worship.

Ask yourself: Am I more concerned about getting the thing I want than getting to know God?

It’s a tough question, but it’s a worthy one to ask because it reveals who or what we worship.

Now, here’s the thing: It’s okay to get frustrated and to cry out to God when you don’t understand His timing. In fact, He welcomes that. But our season of waiting isn’t just about getting the things we hope for. It’s about putting our hope and our trust in God.

So maybe you can reframe your waiting season. Instead of focusing on the waiting, shift your thoughts to remembering—remembering who God is, all that He has already done, and what you know to be true about His character.

If you’re struggling to find peace while you’re waiting, know this:

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.Psalm 37:23-24 NLT

God is directing your story, and every detail matters to Him. He is holding you up when things get hard. And He delights in you.

Don’t rush through the waiting process. Instead, find peace in the process by taking the time to pause and discover what God is teaching you. So, today, reflect on these questions as you wait:

God, what are You showing me in this waiting?
How might I reclaim this waiting period for Your glory and the good of others?

Missing Peace

I can’t take credit for today’s blog title. 😊 It was the title of my daily devotion on YouVersion Bible App. As you might imagine, the devotion was about peace and how it is so often missing.

The thought came to my mind as I was reading that we can never create our own peace. Even if we seem to be able to, the time of peace is fleeting. The hour long relaxing bubble bath, the week long beach vacation, an 8 hour uninterrupted night’s rest, etc.

So how do we experience full-time peace? By continually fixing our minds on something (or someone😊) other than our circumstances. That someone is Heavenly and we are currently in the season of celebrating His appearance on Earth as a baby. Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-8 (Amplified Bible)

6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. 7 And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].

Reality moment here. Every single Christmas season, I get majorly stressed out. I’ve got to attend this Christmas party, or that Christmas gathering. I have to bake, decorate, shop, wrap presents, on top of the regular day to day activities. It. Is. Always. Too. Much.

Now before you quit reading and assume I am The Grinch, Scrooge, or another similar character, I will assure you that I am not. 😊 Why do I get stressed to that point every year? It is not because I don’t enjoy Christmas parties or Christmas shopping or wrapping presents. It is because I become completely absorbed in nothing else.

I don’t spend enough time with Jesus. The One who the season is for. The Reason we even have Christmas. Oops. I’m sure I’m not the only one. 😊 I’m not saying all this to heap guilt on my self or anyone else, but simply to point out the way back to peace. True Peace.

True Peace is never found in our circumstances but in our One True Friend. Only when we make time for His presence and fix our thoughts and minds on Him, will we experience lasting peace. All the ”stuff” and material possessions fade and fluctuate, but True Peace is found in a person, Our Savior. It is only when we make time for Him in our hearts and minds that we experience true, lasting, non-fluctuating peace.

Peace is connected to trust. I’ll admit it. I have a hard time believing in and trusting certain people, and trusting situations life presents to me. But if I’m honest, when I don’t fully trust and give the situation over to God, I don’t experience peace. So without trust, we won’t have peace.

Life constantly bombards us with chaotic scenarios which destroy peace pretty quickly. At least it feels that way to me. What should we do when we life presents less than peaceful circumstances? We should try and harness the worrisome and anxious thoughts and focus our minds back to God and His very real presence in our lives. Yes, it is much easier to do this on some days than it is on others but the effort is probably needed more on the hard days! We have to remember that we live in an imperfect world. We are going to experience anxiety, stress, and less than peaceful thoughts. However putting forth the effort in focusing our minds back to the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives will be worth it! Peace that results is far greater than we can understand or imagine.

Isaiah 26:3

“You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character],
Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation]

I definitely have some work to do in this area. However, for me, just sitting and writing this connects my heart to the Lord’s and helps me to focus, trust, and believe Him for the peace that only He can give! Peace that passes all my human understanding!

I’m praying for you today, friend. Especially if you are stressed out, frazzled, burned out and feel anything but peace. I pray you will be able to spend some time in the Lord’s presence and experience peace as you focus on Him today. He loves you and wants nothing more than to spend time with you and fill your mind with His peace.

Your friend,

Tiffany