Hard work, big rewards
This week can best be defined by hard work! Immediately after coming back form Camino, I went straight back to hectic all day meetings at work while coordinating movers to our new home. This week has been closing out the old home while unpacking and getting settled in the new home. So many boxes to to sort through and decide what we keep versus what needs to find a new home. I am seeing things I haven’t seen in 19 years! It is amazing how much accumulates in life. The results are long days, but a special sense of satisfaction as things begin to come together and our new house begins to feel like a home. God reminds us that “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward” (Colossians 3:25, NIV). Fulfillment doesn’t come from the number of boxes unpacked, fulfillment comes from the peace and comfort found in our family coming together in our new home.
Peace comes in many forms
I am not sure how you define peace, but peace is what drove me to move and bring our family to our new home. I used to visit my friends in their home and the girls would comment that within five minutes I would be asleep-that’s peace. There was always something special about being connected with nature, the quiet that would shut out the chaos of any day-it never failed. As I settle in our new home, I have been greeted with more wildlife in the last week than I have had a chance to see in a long time. When Helena sat on the back porch today after school she shared she just loved the ripples created in the water as the raindrops fell. I get it, I know all of this was always present, even where we used to live, but now we SEE it. I feel like I can breathe in the quiet. All the little things that felt consuming no longer have any strength when compared to all that surrounds me-the big problems seem so small. That’s peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27, NIV). This peace I feel, it could only be created by God alone.