On Pursuing PEACE

 I cannot believe that it is already the end of September. What a wonderful journey the past months have been! I started off determined to go and find PEACE at first it was a true quest. It was HARD. I am not lying. I could think of circumstances and "what if" them to death. My imagination would take me to very dark places. Here are some tips that helped me along the way:

1.  Be supportive. My pastor encouraged me to be supportive no matter what. (Even if I did not agree, find ways to be supportive) So I did. At first it was really hard. I would find myself wanting to argue at every turn. 
2. Feed your mind. What I mean is to have tunnel vision. Take time to do this the right way. It is not enough to "think on these things" you know, the honorable, praiseworthy things, no. There is a little more to it- some ACTION. I feasted on looking at scriptures, edifying posts, ANYTHING  that my eyes looked at, read, ect, had to be edifying. It was a rule for me to scroll past negative stuff. I posted a LOT of edifying stuff, (not all of it was for you, many times I was posting to remind myself).
3. Sing Sing sing ! Now you would think this was easy for me, being that I am a singer, and a worshiper. But there are so many distractions- busy schedules, the regular noise of a day, other priorities. Taking time to sing from my heart, weather anyone heard me or not, filled my heart and soul with more peace than can even be imagined. 
4. Let Go! Ok so mistakes were  made. So what??  So life is not perfect.. Whose is??Someone said something that was irritating , and of course this happens even now.. and yes, I still make mistakes, I am human. BUT accepting that I am human was part of the process of letting go. God's mercies are new every single morning. If you need to repent, do it; and if not, whatever it is that is weighing you down,  shake it off and go be who God has called you to be. Holding on is such a crippler.
5. Serve! I have many opportunities to serve every day, that is the nature of my job, I am a caregiver. But  seeing serving as my mission, changed the way I did my work, it changed the way I lived at home ( well, most of the time ha ha!)I volunteered more this year than any other year. Served my husband's leadership team, cooked for several potlucks for his stuff, volunteered at church, and even a little at school, when I could, I made it my mission to BE A BLESSING.

I could be super spiritual and say prayer, praise, and pleasing our heavenly father are the keys to personal PEACE, but I am not. You know why? It takes work. It takes determination. You have to roll up your sleeves and say "Hey "self", I am pursuing PEACE, so get on board". And some days, "self'" drags along unwillingly. Press on friend! The more you pursue it, the more you will be blessed by it. 

"Turn from evil and do good, seek PEACE and pursue it" Psalms 34:14

Love and PEACE to all,

Ruth