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
What do I have in common with my pup? We both allow situations around us to steal our peace and calmness. How something so obvious could’ve been staring me right in the face, and yet I never even realized it until today is beyond me! You see, I’m determined to learn how to keep my peace and joy no matter what’s going on around me. I’m challenged in that area just about every single day. Finally a breakthrough was made! I think God was celebrating my revelation with a smile and saying, “It’s about time, girl!” He was saying to those around Him, “I knew she’d eventually get it as long as she didn’t give up.”
I think it’s so, so important to have right words, thoughts, and actions no matter what’s going on around us. Boy is that hard! It was even starting to feel like an impossible task. It would be rather easy if I was home all day by myself without contact from the outside world, but how realistic is that? Sure, it would be easy, but I wouldn’t be able to deal as soon as I made contact with a disagreeable person! I need to learn and grow in order to reach that place of peace among the negative energy.
We know that peace is inside us, but we just expect to pray it forth, and it’s supposed to magically become developed. That’s not how it works! Remember that I homeschool? My boys are amazing, wonderful, and absolutely awesome, but lets be frank here…they’re normal boys. They test my patience on a daily basis! Sometimes I even wonder if it becomes a game because they don’t usually do it at the same time. They trade off. When things are going great for one, the other is crabby about something.
I’m bound and determined to not let my surroundings dictate my behavior. Wow! Talk about one of the biggest challenges I ever faced. I failed! I didn’t fail once or twice, but over and over and over again. If one of the boys was upset, I felt that and got upset with him. No! I’m supposed to be the calm in the midst of the storm. How do I stay calm when emotions of young people are swirling all around me?
First, I needed to recognize that what they say isn’t necessarily what they mean. It’s called growing up and all the fun feelings running through their body is coming out of their mouths before they get hold of them. It doesn’t make it right for them to disobey or be disrespectful, but it does make them normal. Consequences will still occur, but from a calm and peaceful parent. How can we teach them when we’re out of control?
Second, we need to pray. When I say pray, I mean PRAY! Plead for His help, Rely on His help, Always believe He’s ready to answer, and Yield to what He tells us…I’m pretty sure it’ll have something to do with our words!
Next, take deep breaths and picture ourselves in a peaceful place. Separate ourselves from the situation for a few minutes until we’re calm and under control if necessary. We want our insides and outsides to match, and we’re going for calm not out of control here. If we can find something to laugh about, the quicker we’ll relax.
Finally, we should repeat positive words while believing in what we asked for. Do whatever works…even if it’s picturing ourselves in a cape running around yelling, “I’m SUPERWOMAN!” or “I’m SUPERMAN!” it will at least get us laughing…especially if we’re wearing their outfits.
It’s still a work in progress with me because I’m still growing. When I achieve peace, joy, and a good attitude in all situations, what victory that will be. We really can overcome the negativity and what’s going on around us to be stable at all times.
This is where I got hit over the head today. I tell my dog trainer that it doesn’t matter what’s going on around my pup, he needs to be able to have self-control at all times. I can’t control what others do around him, but I want him to be focused on me and paying them no mind whatsoever. He doesn’t need to get bouncy and out of control because someone around him is trying to get him wound up. He needs to take his cues from me. HELLO! What has God been trying to tell me? I guess I better not expect this to happen overnight since it hasn’t with me. He has to practice and grow to become a more self-controlled pup.
Never give up on an area you’re struggling with. I challenge you to listen to “Overcomer” by Mandisa a few times, then be prepared to be an OVERCOMER!
