Precious Peace

Peace

It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. ~Unknown

 

One of the Most Peaceful Places I Know - Mackinac Island

 

I have never in my life known and experienced such internal peace as the peace I know now!  It's taken 40 plus years, but looking back, I see how God has used every loss and every struggle I have experienced in life, to bring me to this point of Joy and Peace.  Yes, I knew all along that God was in control (in my head that is), and I knew that I "should" feel peace, but I didn't "really" feel peace (which I felt guilty about).  I didn't have that confident hope deep in my heart, deep in my being.  I wasn't completely filled with joy and peace.  I had heard (and memorized) many of the Bible verses about peace before, but you know what?  They hadn't sunk deep into my heart.  It was just head knowledge. 

As I've been reflecting on why that was, I've realized that for most of my life, I saw God as more of a Controlling Judge who pointed out my wrong doings, than a Loving Father.  I didn't know in my heart that the Character of God is (and always has been) Loving.  I didn't believe in my heart that He Loved me REGARDLESS, and IN SPITE OF, what I have done or haven't done.  I didn't believe that he ALWAYS has my best interest at heart.  In my mind, His Love was based on my performance.  Fear of punishment is no way to live.  It makes me sad that I, in essence, was so self-righteous, that I believed my "trying to be perfect" would earn His Love.  It is SO FREEING to FINALLY GET that He Loves me.  He Loves ME.  He Loves ME because HE IS LOVE!  He Loved me when I was a Lutheran, and He Loves me Now and He would Love me if I was an agnostic and He would Love me if I was an atheist.  He Loves ME!  He is NOT out to get me! 

Guess What?  He LOVES YOU TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You can't DO anything to make Him Love you More and NOTHING you could DO could ever make Him Love you any less!

I LOVE the New Living Translation of the Bible!  What I knew before was head knowledge.  This Version helps me read all of the verses I grew up knowing, in a different light.  That's why it FEEDS my HEART the way I need it to be fed.

So, whatever comes my way, good or bad, whether I have 2 Months, 3 Years, or 40 Years left on this earth, I KNOW without a doubt, that HE IS GOOD and HE IS LOVING! That's a GREAT Place to be in Life! :-)

My Definition of Peace:

Praise Him Knowing with Absolute Certainty that
Everything is ALWAYS in His Capable Hands
And that He will Lovingly
Care for Me and Guide Me thru this Life and into
Eternity with Him Forevermore.

"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him.  Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 15:13 NLT

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever." 
Psalms 136:1 NLT

"For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow."
James 1:3 NLT

"They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them."
Psalm 112:7 NLT

Vera Victim

I know someone who tends to "play the victim".  "Playing the victim" is her default mode in dealing with life's inevitable problems.  When she is overwhelmed, stressed and/or depressed, she tends to be "Vera Victim".  Vera Victim is similar to Debbie Downer, but instead of being negative about everything, she just thinks her situation is harder than everyone else's situation, and that she has no way of making things better,  She believes life just happens TO her, and that she has no choice but to get thru it, instead of taking control of her life, and making the most of the situation.  Most of the time Vera Victim is buried, but she can be quite annoying when she reappears and  falls back into her old way of thinking/being.  I'm really good at recognizing when people are playing the victim.  It gets really annoying sometimes and I often have to bite my tongue, especially on Facebook!  It's the "woe is me" mentality.  We all know people like this, but the reason that I'm so good at recognizing when someone is playing the victim, is that I AM Vera Victim!  Yes ladies and gentlemen, my name is J-La-Sta and I am the queen of playing the victim! 

 

I'm not proud of my Vera Victim mentality, but I am proud that I am being real about it!  I first learned this about myself when I took a "Boundaries" class at Church 5 years ago.  I've worked hard, with God's help, to overcome my Vera Victim mentality.  It's natural for us to fall back to our "default mode" of being during stressful times.  Right now is one of those times for me.  It's December, it's dark, my Dad passed away in December, it's just my toughest month, and my thinking tends to be more negative.  It may be my default mode, but I don't have to STAY in this mode.  I have a choice!  I want to choose Joy!

 

 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 5:13 NIV

 

 

Fact:  On Christmas Eve, Jonathan works 9:00am-5:15pm and I work 9:45am-1:45pm.  On New Years Eve Jonathan works 9:00am-5:15pm and I work 9:45am-6:00pm.  We only have Christmas Day and New Years Day off for the Holidays.

 

Vera Victim Mentality:  This really sucks!  I SO need time off! Many people get the whole week off and all we get is Christmas Day and New Years Day!

 

Silver Lining Mentality:  We are blessed to have jobs!  While many people are unemployed, we are going to make our regular pay PLUS time and a half on Christmas Eve!  We get to have Christmas Day and New Year's Day off AND get paid for these days.  Many people who work in hospitals and nursing homes, etc, will be working on both of these days.

 

 

Life has been challenging for us the past 3 months, but I don't have to be Vera Victim!  There will always be people who have things better/easier than us, but there will also be people who have things much worse/more difficult than we do! 

 

 

So, Farewell Vera Victim, Joyful Jen is coming back!