​Every morning my husband and I walk several laps around a pond on our property.  We dug the pond last fall, so this spring and summer are the first seasons we’ve had a full pond.

We’ve loved watching the bullfrogs camp out on the embankment, and leap into the water as we pass by.  We have even named some of them—Mr. Big (because even though he’s not that big, he’s the biggest at our pond), and Sharapova (because, like the tennis player, the frog grunts every time she hops).

We stocked the pond with some perch and minnows in early spring, and we love throwing them fish food from time to time, and watching them hit the top of the water to eat.

One afternoon we even loved watching a little water snake (non-poisonous!)  playfully writhe on the top of the water in the middle of the pond.  I would never have imagined thinking of a snake as ‘frolicking’—but I did, and it made me happy.

Today, a particularly sultry morning, we loved watching our 15-year-old dog, Stiver, wade out into the water to take a refreshing swim.

How much of our joy and pleasure is dependent on water?  We ENJOY being around water—it’s beauty, the way it feels running over our skin, the sounds it can make during gentle rains.

HOWEVER. . .Early this spring, I have to confess, I complained: “When is it going to stop raining?  The pond is full already!  Our horse-barn is a mud pit!”

I thought our quick-sand would NEVER dry out.

Then we experienced many weeks without any rain at all. 

I began to complain . . . AGAIN. 

“Our grass is turning brown.”

“Our horses won’t have any pasture to get them through summer.”

“I’ll have to actually water our tomatoes by hand.”

“Everything will get so dusty if we don’t get some rain!”

How do you define “peace”?  What does it mean to you to be “at peace”? 

Some would say peace is “absence of conflict.”  A world and a life where everyone gets along, everyone treats others fairly and humanely, relationships that work effortlessly.

Some might define it as “inner calm.”  The ongoing spiritual exercise to rise above personal stress and struggles and maintain a positive outlook without anxiety, fear, and worry.

Others might define it as an acceptance of “things we cannot change” as the Overcomer’s Prayer puts it.

Certainly all of these reflect a facet of peace. But they fall short of describing True Peace—the Peace of God that passes all understanding.  Most of the time we speak of ‘absence of conflict,’ ‘inner calm,’ and ‘acceptance of things we cannot change’ in worldly, limited ideals. 

However, I can’t fathom a moment of earthly life completely void of conflict. It is only 10:00a.m. as I write.  I have already encountered a difference of opinion with my husband and some stressed friendships.

For my birthday, God gave me snow. My mother would always tell me how it was snowing in Dallas the day I was born. Most of Mtn. View did not get snow—so I am receiving that as God’s “Happy Birthday.” (Thank you, Father).

This morning I have been thinking deep thoughts and feeling God’s presence and listening more intently for things that He wants me to hear and live. The One-Year-Bible passage on my birthday included the Leviticus passage on bodily secretions (Big Jimmy Fallon EWWW!). The couple of days before that it was about sores and leprosy, so when I read this chapter, I was like “EWWW! What a nasty passage for my birthday Bible reading.”

When reading these chapters in Leviticus, the natural question is, “Why did God think this ‘EWW!’ stuff was important to include in His Word?” And the thought/answer that came to my mind/heart was, “Because there is nothing so disgusting in our lives that He will not look on it Himself, then help us see it in ourselves, and then show us how to deal with it—how to clean it up, how to heal, how to be free.”

(Word.)

But that’s not all. My birthday passage also included Mark 7. Jesus teaches how our hearts reveal our true identity/substance. Following a set of external, religious rules and regulations to be ‘good’ is a pretense. Letting Christ do a heart transplant—taking the heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh—that is the reality of ‘a new life in Christ.’ This was the sermon text at NLC last Sunday. And one of the sermon points, “Give your heart away,” is the one God wanted me to hear, because I struggle with guarding my heart in the wrong way—keeping it safe, and holding relationships at a distance.

So, as I drove in to work this morning, I was reflecting on the yearly “themes” God has spoken into my life recently. For 2013-2014 it was “Be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:9)—it kept coming up over and over and over again from different sources, to the point that I finally realized He really, really, really wanted ME to hear this and get it.

For 2015 (I was a little quicker on the up-take) it was “Sow to the Spirit.” Gal. 6:8 “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” This ‘theme’ made a real difference in choices that I made. Sowing to the Spirit—making more choices that said ‘no’ to the flesh, and ‘yes’ to the Spirit- an ongoing moment by moment project.

For 2016, I am thinking that “Give your heart away” is His theme for me. And interestingly, it is kind of a sub-theme of the other 2: “Sow to the Spirit—Give your heart away” AND “Be strong and courageous—Give your heart away.” This directive will be the most challenging.
“God, please help me be brave every day. Remove the callouses of my overly protected heart. Help me, in the little and big things to sow to the Spirit. Grow your heart in me more and more, so I can give it away. . . And thank you for helping me with the EWW! in my life. ”