PEACE

I'm sitting by the pool at my parents house. they own 30 acres out in the country. it is black out except for the solar lights by the pool. as I'm sitting in the quiet I'm thinking on peace. I'm reading a great book, Forgotten God, & it references this scripture. Peace I leave with you, not as the world gives. For in this world you will have trouble but take heart, I have overcome the world. there's the weird part in me that likes to think of Jesus as a James Bond character as He says that. in the midst of a peaceful night there are lots of chaotic sounds: crickets-LOUD crickets, bullfrogs, cows mooing, an occassional horse sighing-thats what it sounds like, a dog howling, the ac kicking on, & a huge insect jumping in the grsss behind me- way too close actually! it just hit me that God's peace is similar to my peaceful night. in life, we have chaos & right now my heart is heavy for lots: sister with big kidney stone, friend's dad diagnosed with lymphoma, friend divorced, tough family issues, friends with an ER scare with their son, friend who has been trying to concieve for4 yrs, friend who delivered twin babies at 20 wks -both babies died- their due date is this week. those things are chaotic!!!! BUT I am learning that my situations & my self induced drama (there goes that howling dog & mooing cow again) do not determine whether or not I live in peace & at peace. I have a God who is the Peace Speaker who I cannot manipulate by my chaos, drama, or situations, who loves me for me and wants nothing more than for me to love Him. He has overcome the chaos. Not that that means the chaos will go away. IT WILL NOT! I am not alone and there's comfort in that. I'm going to go inside because the cow is definitely kicking the mooing up a notch and the large insect jumping sound seems to be getting closer, and I'm starting to feel creepy crawlies on me! good night or should I say peace night!!