Precious Peace

Feels like an eternity since I've written a blog. I had a wonderful weekend! I went on a retreat to Meadowkirk, VA. God lead me to that place. I've always thought of church retreats as pretty corny but I went to this one anyways and I was proven terribly wrong. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

I experienced peace. I've been camping and experienced quite a bit of the outdoors in my youth but never experienced peace. You can't understand peace unless you've been through storms. The bigger the storms and stresses the more extraordinary the peace is when you experience it.

Since I've returned to civilization I feel an urge to keep the peace going day to day. I am at work and church and home so there are stresses bombarding me constantly. I try sometimes not to sprinkle so much 'God' into my blogs but I really cannot help it. He is the source of all good things. The only way to truly stay in peace throughout life is to have a daily reinforced relationship with God. Knowing Him makes the drama of this world seem so insignificant. It's like I'm thinking outside and beyond my circumstance.

I've noticed that the majority of my stress is my own fault. I take on too much. Or I deal with the ridiculousness of the people I care about. Or I try to fix everything. Or I try to use every talent I've got all at the same time. Or I let myself get so busy that I don't bask in the peace of God's promises. I can control all of these things. I'm going to control all of these things.

Order brings peace. It's not gonna be easy but I'm gonna have to say 'no' in order to maintain order. I'm gonna have to say no to some church activities. I'm gonna have to say no to my boss occasionally. I'm gonna have to say no to myself when I get carried away with a new hobby.

There aren't enough hours in the day to do all that I think is important. So some important things simply won't get done because I cannot get back to the high stress level that became a part of my life. It's not ok nor is it cute. Women seem to think that the more they do the more significant they are. I'm guilty of this. I feel like Superwoman with a big ole 'N' on my chest for 'Nichova'.

But it's literally killing me. Nope. Those days are over. Time for me......