Peace that Surpasses Understanding

Go ahead "be at peace" that is easy to do right? In our culture finding peace is not an easy thing.  It seems that anxiety and stress are at an all time high. I learned a thing or two about anxiety and peace in college.  My cousin Ericca and I grew up together as best friends. Neither of us had a sister so we clung to one another as sisters.  She nearly scared me to death when were 19. She was driving one night as we left my mother's apartment complex. She pulled to the exit and stopped in front of the busy street in front of us waiting to turn left. For a few moments she did not move and I remember looking at her and saying "hellllo Ericca are you going to go?" Just then she looked at me with a vacant, blank scare, a look I will never forget. Then she began to seize. She had a Grand Mal seizure behind the wheel. The car began to roll across the busy street. By the grace of God not a single car drove by during this whole episode. I was terrified I did not know what to do. Since the car was traveling the wrong way on the road by itself I threw the gear shift into park. The car made an awful sound and I thought for sure I ruined her engine. It turns out that was the best decision that I made because seconds later she hit the gas pedal with all of her body strength and the engine roared. I called 911 and the operator tried to help me take care of my cousin. We happen to be on the street in front of the hospital. I could not seem to understand why the paramedics took so long.  In those few moments I thought my cousin was dying. Thankfully, she regained consciousness before the paramedics arrived.  They took her to the hospital. I was so scarred by the event that the ER staff thought I was the injured person and tried to admit me. :) My sweet Ericca was completely fine after this and did not drive again for 6 months. I on the other hand was greatly effected.

I was terrified that either Ericca would have another seizure or that other drivers on the road would suddenly have a seizure. I developed an intense anxiety to driving. While driving I would picture horrific multiple car crashes taking place in front of me. The anxiety became debilitating, especially because my future husband lived three hours away and I had to drive to see him.  I tried going to a therapist but the anxiety pulled me away.  At this point in my life I did not know God, and never thought to ask Him for help.

Then a friend invited me to her bible church and I went. During the sermon the pastor spoke about how God has no place for worry in our lives. This was such a foreign concept to me. What do you mean God wants to take away my worry? I felt as though the entire sermon was directed to me and my situation. I began to pray in times of worry and stress and it helped. Then a few months later I walked into a different church and saw a bulletin board that read "Worry about nothing. Instead, tell Him everything. Pray!" I was blown away by this statement. I never thought about giving all of my worries to God. I now know that this was a translation of the scripture Philippians 4:6-7

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.

Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

This scripture changed my life. It taught me to give it all to God, literally He wants us to tell Him EVERYTHING!  After deepening my faith and reading the scripture from Philippians I noticed something. Not only does it tell us to pray in times of worry or trouble it says that we will receive Peace. This is not worldly peace. Like "Peace and Love" peace or gangsta wrapper "Peace". This is the Peace of Christ. The peace that "surpasses all understanding". It is peace that we as humans can not fathom, because it is of God. St. Augustine said "If you can understand it, then it must not be of God".  Most Americans have not experience this internal Peace that flows from the Holy Spirit. When a person grows in relationship with Christ they receive the Fruits of the Spirit through the Holy Spirit these are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Wouldn't we love to have someone describe us using these adjectives? They are not as hard to obtain as you might think, but it is not something that we can do on our own. Only through giving your heart to Christ and letting go of what we hold onto as women will we receive these beautiful fruits of the spirit. Here is the great part, YOU don't have to do anything. All you have to do is TRUST in God. My three year old told me today in the car "Mommy did you know you can trust God?". Yes in my heart I do but sometimes my head takes over and I forget to trust in Him. 

Did you know that there are 365 verses in the bible that mention worry? One for each day of the year. God has no place for worry in our lives. Instead, He yearns for our trust. He wants us to lean on Him in good times and struggles. After all, these struggles are what strengthen our relationship with Him. So open up your heart and let "the peace that surpasses all understanding guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus".

Thank Goodness for Theology of the Body

One of the biggest challenges for me as a mom is trying to protect my kids from a sex crazed culture.  It terrifies to me to think of my girls becoming teenagers. Aaah I don't want to think about that right now. I love teenagers. Teen ministry is my absolute favorite, but I am not ready to be the mom of two teenage girls. We live in a culture that basically says anything goes. It is okay to have sex anytime with anyone, to live together before marriage and a whole slew of other behaviors that break apart our relationships with God and set us up for rocky marriages.  I often hear people talk about the marriage crisis in America and how can we fix it? My answer is we have to start teaching the next generation BEFORE they make these mistakes. It is too late to talk to a couple about the dangers of living together once they are living together. This is why I love teen ministry so much.


I honestly believe the cause for the breakdown of so many marriages is pre-marital or extra-marital sex.  We have lost the true meaning of a Christian relationship. In fact most of us have never heard God's vision for marriage explained.  I was not exposed to this until long after I was married.  Can you imagine starting your marriage with this in mind? How different would our lives be? The Catholic church has an AMAZING program called Theology of the Body. It was originally written by Pope John Paul the II in a series of encyclicals and then translated by Christopher West.  TOB explains the true plan for marriage that God intended. It teaches women and men to treat each other with love and respect and to treat sex as a gift for marriage. It empowers young girls to look for the man that God has intended for them, not simply someone who will give them attention. It also shows them that they are wonderfully and beautifully made regardless of what our culture tells them. It is truly empowering to both sexes and creates stronger marriages.  There are also TOB programs for teenagers and I recently heard about a program for middle schoolers starting in 5th grade. Yes this sounds incredibly young, but let's face it our kids are exposed to sex whether we like it or not. At least this way they are hearing the truth about God's plan for our sexuality from the get go, instead of trying to unlearn what society has instilled in them. The program is called "Purely You: Growing God's Way". It also includes a parent Q & A section that gives pointers on how to explain these concepts to your kids when they start asking questions.

I pray that I can teach my daughters to understand who they are as Christian women and how to uphold their values.  I highly recommend taking a TOB course or reading Christopher West's book. The courses are offered several times a year in our area and if you don't live in Austin I am sure you can find one near you.

See it Pray it!

Praying out loud  always seems to be hard for kiddos. Heck praying out loud for adults is hard too! In our house it usually ends up that I do a lot of the praying, which is good because I am modeling for them how to pray. My goal though is not to only model but also for them to take ownership in their own little prayer lives. I want them to know that prayer is the answer to all of life's problems. It is also the cause of all of life's joys.  I want them to know that they can talk to God about anything at anytime. So where do we begin? Right now my three year old has started praying her own little independent prayers. It is usually some variation of "Thank you God, I love you God Amen!" It is her own and it is original which I love but now I think she is ready to put some real substance into her prayer. When it is time to sit down and pray together I think they forget what they wanted to pray about. I heard an interview with a member from the band Philips, Craig and Dean and he was talking about how he uses pictures to keep him focused in prayer. It got me thinking about children and how they are extremely concrete thinkers! From that was born the See it Pray it board!

To make the board the girls and I sat down together and discussed the reasons why we pray

• To thank God for our blessings
•  To tell Him how much we love Him
• To pray for others in need
• And most importantly to ask God to help us transform our hearts for Him. This last one I believe is so important because it reminds us that we don't have to take on the troubles of the world on our own. If we have a problem take it to the "Divine Physician". He wants to help us overcome life's struggles. 

Then we came up with several things that we should pray for together each night. We are tremendously blessed right now with a new born baby. I also have 5 amazing friends who also have newborn babies. Livi wanted to draw a picture of each baby and write all 5 of their adorable little names on the board. Instead she just drew one picture and I wrote the word "Babies". :) We also included pictures of each member of our little family to remember to be thankful for each other.

Then we added names of people that need prayers right now. I have two sweet friends who are currently in Hospice care. One is a little girl and the other an amazing Mom. We put both of their names on the board. I don't intend to explain to my girls in detail why we are praying for them, but I will explain their love for God and how they really need God right now.We are also expecting a new baby cousin and are so thrilled so they want to pray for their Aunt Lindsey or Zee Zee as they call her.

After that we talked about the things in our lives that we need God's help with.  Since the baby was born the behavior in our house has been more challenging. I think this is just a new baby phase and it will end soon. Hopefully! :) My four year old said that we need to work on "showing each other love more". So she made a heart and wrote the word "Love" inside.  We also decided that we need to work on being better "Listeners" so we wrote that in stickers as well. Praying for these challenges each night will do several things for our family. First, it will allow us to give our problems over to God and let Him heal us. Next, it will open up the lines of communication each night for us to discuss why we are struggling in a positive and loving manner. The best time to teach kids about behavior is not in the heat of the moment. Rather it is in a time where they feel connected and loved. I feel a whole slew of "teachable moments" coming on!

The best part about the See it Pray it board is that I used a magnet board so we can change it anytime as needs arise. I am also going to encourage them each night to think of new people or problems to pray for. Don't forget though... We can pray anytime throughout the day. Teach kids to stop right then in the moment and pray for a struggle. Teach them to pray for a loved one who asks for prayers right there with them. Also teach them to notice when God answers their prayers. Point out how the situation has changed as a result of their prayer and remind them that it is because of God's love. Have fun encouraging your children to know and love God!