Peace Be With You

            "Don't be anxious; instead, give thanks in all your prayers and petitions and make your requests known to God. And God's peace which is beyond all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:6-7).  


              I have heard this scripture literally, hundreds and hundreds of times.  I have heard it in church, seen it stitched on pillows, heard it quoted, sermonized, elaborated on to no end and yet on a daily basis I find it nearly impossible to live.

             Other translations say be anxious for nothing.  And yet, every day I find myself anxious about money, the condition of my house, the condition of my soul, the past, present and future of my children, the laundry, the dishes, the unrelenting need of my family to eat dinner every night....anxious, anxious, anxious.

              Some days are better than others of course. Some days I am Donna Reed vacuuming my immaculate house, in my high heels with a roast in the oven and my perfectly clean children reading in the corner.  Oh, wait that doesn't sound right, more like vacuuming with a child on my hip and a toddler screaming because the vacuum is too loud while another toddler yells at me from the bathroom to come wipe his bottom with the idea of dinner defrosting on the counter.  Still there really are days when none of that fazes me and I feel happy and at peace in this chaotic vocation God has given me.

         But what about all the other days?  We are created to be at peace. Created to be in relationship with the God of Peace and yet so often on this road to holiness we allow the burdens of our vocation to rob us of our peace.  I am slowly  learning not to let that happen, but it takes concerted effort and prayer every day. St. Therese of Lisieux is one of my all time favorite saints because she is always reminding us that it is in the little things that we grow closest to God.  Herein lies the encouraging word of the day for us mothers because our WHOLE JOB consists of little things.  Little things that often go unseen, and even more often unnoticed.  Much of our job is thankless not because our families deliberately take us for granted but because they just can't see the big picture yet.  Particularly for the mothers that only have small children, trust me, it gets better! Our teenage daughter thanks me every time I make dinner!  This is a huge change from the groans I often get from her little siblings.  But her gratitude flows over and they follow suit.  Just think of all the things you never realized your mother did for you until recently when through your tears you find yourself asking how on earth she did it!   So, how do we find peace in the little things?  How do we find holiness and happiness in the minutia of housework and child-rearing?  Or how do you amazing working mom's find peace on the days   you feel divided or guilty or just plain exhausted?  Fr. Jacques Philippe says it perfectly: "If I am still not able to remain at peace when faced with difficult situations, then it is better that I should begin to strive to keep this peace in the easier situations of every day life:

 to quietly and without irritability do my daily chores,  I don't know about you but this is SO hard sometimes!  Today I will not huff and puff and roll my eyes every time another needless mess is made, or I find myself buried in laundry.  I will fold with a smile being grateful my children have clothes and I have a WASHING MACHINE!

 to commit myself to doing each thing well in the present moment without preoccupying myself with what follows,  Definitely easier said then done.  I am always doing one thing with my mind on the 20 other things that remain undone.  I will play with my children and NOT think about how dirty the toilets are while I do it.

to speak peacefully and with gentleness to those around me, and to avoid excessive hurry in my gestures and in the way I climb the stairs!"    This one can be so hard.  Why is it that those sweet angelic faces and innocent eyes can melt our hearts and incite unspeakable rage all within a matter of minutes?  I will be patient and kind to my children and to my husband and I will try not to blow past them to my next task but include them in my day and be at peace with all that goes undone.

            Let's not forget the part of that infamous scripture that tells us to bring our petitions and make our requests known to God.  He is not denying that we have needs and anxieties he is just giving us a more effective way to deal with them.  Our life becomes a prayer and our prayer becomes to align ourselves with God's will (and if your're me your daily prayers include a lot of requests for more grocery money, a bigger house, more energy, and a little more space between babies).   Peace that passes ALL understanding, that definitely sounds better than what happens when I try to do it all myself.