A Peace that Seeps and then Surpasses: Part II

“Mommy?” My six-year-old’s eyes are large and brown. He stands at my desk waiting patiently, then as I turn and say, “Yes?” he poses his question.

“Which are the good ones, murderers or martyrs? I forget.”

“Martyrs are the good ones, honey. They go straight to heaven.”

“That’s what I want to be, then! I want to be a martyr.”

* * *

Cheerful fare for a November Thursday, right? No, but these are the sorts of conversations we have. We talk about what it means to be a martyr and the very real chance that we might die for the faith.

(We don’t talk so much about murderers, mind you. My son just mixes up his multi-syllabic “m” words.)

It is worth noting, however, that the attacks by ISIS  involve both.

Martyrs at the blood-stained hands of gun-toting, bomb-slinging murderers.

How does one have peace in times like these?

* * *

To be honest, I don’t have perfect peace in my heart right now, but the reasons are beautifully light-hearted compared to the tragedies in Paris. Instead, I’m worrying about being ready for our double birthdays this weekend.  Cate turns 15 on Saturday and Felicity becomes a teen the very next day.

Lord, have mercy. Two teenage daughters and an Angela to boot. 😉

And can you believe it? Those two looked like this when I started this blog:

 

The time, it flies.

Our lives march on unless they’re taken cruelly away from us.

* * *

Meanwhile, I want to keep working on this post.  I want to explain what I mean in the title when I refer that a peace that “seeps”.

Are you a praying man, perhaps?

Are you a praying momma?

Then you know what I mean by this expression, I think. It’s sitting down in His presence with a heavy, conflicted heart–a heart that is overtaxed, overburdened and anxious–and before you know it, your burden is lifted. Inexplicably you find yourself steeped in peace.

Okay, I guess the word I used was “seeps”.  It’s a slow, beautiful, fluid movement when you know–you KNOW–that God has got you in His hand and your fears are simply washed away.

As Joseph commented on Part I of this post: The light shines in the darkness and the darkness shall not overcome it.

You know that however bad things can get, God has got this.

God’s got you.

 

To be cont.