Peace

The message today at church was on Peace for Mothers.  It was awesome!  It was also something I needed to hear.  This is something I have really been struggling with for the last several months.  I can easily fall into the world's way of thinking that peace can come from worldly things and I know this is not true.  Today I was reminded again.  I love the statement Dave used "Peace is dependent on God's grace"  How much grace do you extend yourself as a mother?  As mother we have a need for perfection.  We want a perfect house, perfect children, perfect balance of home and work, etc. We are constantly comparing ourselves to other moms.  I believe there are certain times in life when moms need to extend an extra amount of grace to themselves.  I know I struggle with this and have been a lot recently.  Why can't I get everything done?  My to-do list just keeps growing and nothing is getting crossed off.  I have been on maternity leave for 7 weeks and I don't feel like I have accomplished anything.  I was talking to a friend about this struggle today and was reminded of the numerous things I have done that never were even on the to-do list such as lunch at school with Hayden, reading hundreds of books to Kate, volunteering at Jack's preschool, snuggling Peyton, numerous diaper changes and the list goes on.  These are all way more important than anything on my to-do list.

Three bullet points that I have written down regarding peace for Mother's that I will continue to come back to are these:
*By grace confess your sins
*By grace give God control
*By grace accept what cannot be changed

All of these are big but that middle one for me is HUGE!  Faith is not shown by words but by actions.  I need to be constantly reminded of this.  I say I trust God with my life and my kids but do I show that or do I constantly worry about the unknown?

"You (God) will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!"
Isaiah 26:3