Twelve Ways to Experience Peace in your Home

Everyone is looking for peace—peace in their soul, their home and their nation. Peace is perhaps the greatest possession we can have. The wonderful thing is that we can own peace regardless of circumstances. We could own a mansion and all the material blessings we crave and yet not have peace. We can own nothing and yet be blessed with peace.

God is peace—the originator of peace. Jesus came to guide our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:79). He said, “Come and I will give you rest…”, “My peace I give unto you…” But His peace and rest are not automatic. Although they are His gifts to us, He tells how to have them. Nothing happens by itself. As Henry Drummond says, “The Christian life is not casual but causal. We cannot get away from the eternal law that we reap what we sow. There is no other way.

In Zechariah 8:12 God says, "I am planting seeds of peace and prosperity among you…” God spoke these words to encourage the people when rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem. God is a seed-planter. He is not only a God of peace, but He sows seeds of peace. We, who were created in the image of God, should also be peace seed-planters.    

How can we sow seeds of peace in our home and family? The following are some seeds that you can plant that will help bring peace to your heart and home.

1. Experience the Gospel of Peace

Firstly, we cannot have true peace without acknowledging the blood of Jesus Christ, the pure, spotless lamb of God who shed His blood to atone for our sins. This is the only way we can have peace with God.

2. Pray for Peace

Every morning when we have devotions as a family, my husband prays for peace to fill our home. If we constantly pray for it, we are well on the way toward making it happen.

God commanded us to pray for the peace of His city, Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6) It is just as important to pray for the peace of our homes. If every family across the nation daily prayed for the peace of God to be in their home, we would have peace in our homes, our cities, and our nation.

3. Speak Peace

We should not only pray for it, but speak it. As we were raising our older children, my husband constantly confessed, “I am a man of peace” or “I am for peace.” We needed that confession in the midst of our six very exuberant and outspoken children. Unfortunately, our children have it in their genes. My husband comes from a family of nine children, who, although committed believers and most serve the Lord full-time, have very loud voices, are very opinionated, and not afraid to speak their opinions. How we love being together.

I come from a smaller family, but just as loud. A friend of ours, who lived with us for a while as we raised our family used to say, “What hope is there for your children with a “Crowin’ Campbell” for a father and a “Blowin’ Bowen for a mother?” Amazingly, in the midst of all our loudness, we mostly had an atmosphere of peace. Peace is not always an absence of noise, but an absence of tension and strife.

As you pray for your children each morning, minister the peace of God upon them. Walk into your kitchen with your “gospel of peace” shoes on your feet and release peace on each one of your children. Pray it over them. Confess it over them. Speak it into their lives. Be a peace-bearer rather than a tension-bearer.

Peace is a noun, but the Bible verbs it. It tells us to extend peace, pursue peace, love peace, make peace, establish peace, preach peace, proclaim peace, seek peace and speak peace. This is how it happens—by sowing the seeds. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9) Peace doesn’t just happen; we have to make it happen.      

Ask God to help you be a peacemaker today. I know it’s not an easy task. You have to bite your tongue. You have to practice speaking words that are affirming, encouraging, cheerful, comforting, forgiving, healing, helpful, kind, loving, positive, reconciling, respectful, strengthening, supportive, sweet, uplifting, and wholesome. You have to smile instead of scowl. You have to think of ways to reconcile.

4. Hold your Tongue

Perhaps this is one of the biggest ways to keep peace. It is easy to spout off words that cause discord. It is easy to react with words that cause pain or even incite rebellion. It is easy to answer back when accused. I am always challenged by Jesus’ reaction when he was accused:

Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.”

Matthew 26:62-63, “The high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace.”

Matthew 27:11-13, “When he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word.”

1 Peter 2:23, “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again."

If you cannot give a soft answer, it is best not to open your mouth! This takes self control, doesn’t it? But, the Holy Spirit, who is self control, lives within us to help us. We need to have Proverbs 15:1 constantly in our minds and hearts, “A soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.”

5. Discipline for Peace

This doesn’t sound very peaceful, does it? We often think that if we rock the boat we won’t have peace! But the opposite is true. Discipline precedes peace! Read that again. Yes, discipline precedes peace! If your children are playing up, disobeying, being defiant and causing havoc in the home, you won’t have any peace. To get peace, you must deal with the disobedience or bad behavior.

Proverbs 29:17 says, “Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.”        

Do you want rest and peace in your home? Don’t gloss over disobedience. Deal with the issues. Sow loving but firm discipline for disobedient behavior and you will reap a reward of rest. Many parents have no rest. Their children are a constant hassle to them because they have not been trained. They yell at them but their behavior doesn’t change.

It is a joy to watch parents who live a life of rest. I think of my daughter, Evangeline, who has 10 children. Her husband, Howard and she have trained their children to respond with instant obedience from the time they were very little. They have never allowed disobedience or defiant behavior. They dealt with it immediately. They have reaped a wonderful reward of rest. Their children, aged from 20 to three years are extraordinarily behaved. They give delight to their parents and everyone who is around them. They can take them anywhere and trust their behavior. Evangeline lives a life of a queen for her children give her no bother.

Hebrews 12:11 reiterates this, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous; nevertheless, afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”       

I was quite taken aback when reading Romans 16:20 recently, “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” You would think that when it speaks of God defeating the devil that He would be referred to as the God or War or the Lord of hosts (which is the Lord of the armies of heaven). It will not be a peaceful task to conquer Satan. It will be war and blood and tears. But, no. It is the God of peace who will bruise Satan. I am sure this is because there can never be true peace while evil reigns and therefore it is the God of peace who wages war to bring peace.

If you have to have a little war before you have peace, don’t be afraid. Covering over things will not bring peace. It is like a festering sore that will not heal until it is totally cleansed.

6. Love the Word

We sow peace into our home when we love God's Word and impart its truth to our children.

Psalm 119:165 says, “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.”

Isaiah 48:18 says, “Oh, that you had heeded my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”

It is not always easy to obey the Word of God. God’s ways are usually the opposite of the way we feel, but obedience brings peace.

7. Love Righteousness

Psalm 85:10 says, “Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” You can’t have peace without righteousness. They are inseparable. But righteousness is more than turning away from evil. It is doing righteous deeds. Righteousness is not stagnant. It is alive. It is revealed in your facial features as you smile at your family and speak positive things; it comes out your fingertips as you work and toil for the blessing of your family or hug and embrace your children; it shows itself as you walk to do good deeds for your family and others.

We see this in Isaiah 32:17, “The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.” Do you notice that righteousness is a work? And do you notice the cause and effect? The effect is peace!

This following verse says, “And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” If we want peace in our home we must sow seeds of righteousness. That means saying No to certain TV programs, DVDs, and websites. It means taking a stand against the spirit of the world entering your home. Peace does not come by compromise or even by feeling good. Sometimes people equate peace with calm. Anyone can have peace when everything is going perfect. True peace rests on a foundation of righteousness (Hosea 10:12).

8. Seek Reconciliation

You cannot have peace if you have estranged relationships. To enjoy peace you must seek healing and restoration. Sow seeds of reconciliation. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. You won’t have peace until you do (Ephesians 4:26-27).

9. Forget your Worries

Ephesians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” In other words, don’t worry about anything! Easier said than done! But if we want peace in our hearts and homes it is habit we must practice.

Each time you face another problem, instead of getting in a state about it; choose to turn it over the Lord. Look to the Lord rather than your circumstances. It takes a while to get into this habit, but it will change your life. You can then walk in peace even in the midst of the storm.

My favorite Scripture, a special one for mothers, is found in Isaiah 26:3-4, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” When we sow the habit of bringing our thought life to the Lord, we will have peace. Not only peace, but perfect peace. It is actually a double word in the Hebrew meaning, peace, peace!

10. Pursue Husband/Wife Unity

Sow unity in your marriage relationship. If you don’t have unity together, you won’t have peace in your heart or home. And nor will your children know peace. When there is estrangement between you and your husband, the children will feel the brunt of it. Once again, you have to sow the seeds. It won’t just happen. Realize the truth that God has made you one--not two, but one! Sow seeds to make this oneness a reality. Say Sorry. Forgive. Swallow your pride. Humble yourself. Shut your mouth. Speak soft words. Submit for your own blessing. As you sow these seeds, you’ll reap peace.

11. Order your home

It is difficult to have peace when you live in a mess. 1 Timothy 5:14 tells us that the young women are to “guide the house.” This phrase is translated from the Greek word, oikodespoteo, coming from two words: oikos--home, and despotace--master or ruler. God has given you the responsibility to manage your home—to keep it in order and running smoothly. Don’t forget the principle of cause and effect. If you want peace, do things that will bring order and peace.

12. Declutter your home

If you have clutter everywhere and your dishes and laundry are piling up, you will not be able to think straight. Order brings serenity. Sow seeds for a harvest of peace by de-cluttering your home. If you have loads of junk it can be daunting to start on this venture. Take one room at a time. Be ruthless. Get rid of everything you don’t need. Purge. The more you eradicate, the more serenity will come to your soul.

Will you become a peace-sower? The more seeds you sow, the greater harvest you will reap. Remember, you have to make it happen.

NANCY CAMPBELL

www.aboverubies.org

Mother...

As you embrace and mother children, you are doing what you were created to do. You live in the glory of womanhood as you embrace your nurturing anointing.

Check out: Quintessentially Feminine & Fully Female & I Love Motherhood & Protect Your Womb

Motherhood keeps you young and healthy. Pregnancy and nursing your baby adds years to your life.

Check out: Preserved Through Motherhood & Preservation Testimonies

You are a nation builder. You build and strengthen the nation as you embrace motherhood. It is mothers who determine the destiny of the nation. When mothers vacate the home and childbearing the nation weakens. When mothers come back to the home with a vision to raise godly children they strengthen the nation.

Check out: Motherhood Not For Wimps & Build A Nation

The more children God gives to you, the more blessings come to your home. You are blessed, grandparents are blessed, the nation is blessed, future generations are blessed, and eternity is blessed.

Check out: Genesis 1:28; Psalm 127:3-5 and 128:1-6 * Children Are Gods Gift

You are involved in the greatest career in the nation. You career is above every other career. The Bible likens it to the highest tree in the forest (Ezekiel 19:10-11).

Check out: Above Only

Motherhood is not only for today. You are influencing generations to come.

Check out: 1 Chronicles 16:15; Psalm 78:1-8; 102:18, 28; 103:17-18; 112:1-2; Isaiah 59:21 and Joel 1:3.

Motherhood is not temporary as other careers. It lasts forever. Each child God gives to you is an eternal soul that will live forever.

Check out: Eternal Soul

Prepared by Nancy Campbell
Designed by Wendy Graham

www.aboverubies.org

**Pictures from top to bottom: Monique Campbell, Amelia Page, Krista Fafach and children, Madelyn Lopez with baby daughter, and Howard and Evangeline Johnson with their 10 children--Zadok, Sharar, Rashida, Crusoe, Jireh, Arrow, Tiveria, Sahara, Iqara, and Saber Truth

THE "SUCKLING MOTHER" 

“And he (Jesus) answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female”
(Matthew 19:4).

Interesting! God created a male and a female. He didn’t make two Adams. He didn’t make two Eves. He created an Adam and an Eve.

The most common Greek word for "woman" in the New Testament is gune which simply means "woman, wife." However, Jesus used a more specific word when He answered the Pharisees who asked him about divorce. He used the word thelus which comes from the root word thele. The noun means "the nipple of a woman’s breast from which a baby sucks to find sustenance and to thrive" and the verb means, "to suckle at the breast." In other words, Jesus described the female as a "suckling mother." "This is how God made them in the beginning,” he reminded them. And God has not yet made a new model!

This word would not have been offensive to the those listening to Jesus at that time. Nursing mothers were a natural part of the lifestyle. Unfortunately, today there are many women who would not like to hear Jesus describing them in such a way. To be a suckling mother seems degrading to a career woman. And yet this is who God created us to be. When we embrace children and suckle them at the breast we fulfill our highest destiny. We live in the glory of our femaleness. We find our greatest beauty. And we wield a mighty power.

The mother who embraces life and suckles a babe at her breast is not wasting her time. She is nourishing a child who potentially bears the image of God—a child who will come forth from her home one day to bring God’s love and salvation to many. Maybe this child will be a mighty voice to turn a nation to God. And she nurtures a child for everlasting eternity. It is still true that “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”

When a mother nurses her baby she produces prolactin, which is known as the “mothering hormone.” The more the mother suckles the baby, the more prolactin she produces and therefore the more motherly she becomes. God has divinely endowed the female with a maternal instinct, but when she suckles her baby at the breast her maternalness increases. She lives more in the anointing of who God created her to be—to reveal the maternal character of God to her children and those around her.

Some mothers say, “I’m only interested in quality, not quantity” and so they limit their children so they can supposedly give more to the one or two they choose to have. This is a false conception. As her two children grow and go off to school, she is mothering less and less and looks to find fulfillment elsewhere, often going out to work and establishing herself in a career. And so her children receive less of her time. Whereas, when a mother has another baby and suckles the babe at her breast, prolactin kicks in and the motherly hormones charge through her system again. Not only does her baby benefit from this loving hormone, but her whole family. The love and nurturing spreads out to all her children. This is how God keeps the mother protecting and delighting in her children in the home.

God also uses this description of the female as a suckling mother in Romans 1:26, “For this cause God gave them up until vile affections: for even their women (thelus) did change the natural use into that which is against nature.” This is a very challenging Scripture to all females because it states that when a woman turns away from the natural function of how God created the female body to function—with a womb to conceive and nurture life and breasts to suckle this life, that God gives them up to vile affections.

Isn’t it amazing that we have become such a deceived generation that women do not want to be who God originally created them to be?

Please understand, I am not talking about mothers who are not able to conceive children or even those who are not physically able to breastfeed. We don’t live in a perfect world and not everyone’s bodies are functioning as God originally intended. God looks at our heart and our intentions.

He wants us to turn towards Him in our hearts, not turn away from the way He created us.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Lord, please help me to be truly female as you designed me to be.”

AFFIRMATION:

“As I hold this baby in my arms
     I’m like a picture of you,
To nurture with your love is what
     You made me to do.”

PEACE ALL OVER ME

The above words of affirmation are from Serene’s song, El Shaddai, Creator of the Lullaby which is on the album, Peace all Over Me. 

Here are some more of the beautiful words of this song…

Deep within your heart you hold the source
For everything that’s tender
Soft and kind.
To caress the world with warm affection
You thought of a mother
Beautiful design.

A Haven of Rest

Deep soul rest--my innermost craving. I was raised from my mother’s breast to know God, but the anchored state of rest eluded me. I wasn’t a worrywart that agonized over every little thing. I never fretted over finances--even when our farm was in the beginnings of foreclosure, or when we were feeding 13 children in our home. I always knew God would provide. I never lost sleep over life’s particulars and have always considered myself a carefree spirit.

But, deep inside my soul was a pit of angst. Under the layers of a light-hearted sanguine personality was this dark lurking fear, a phantom I could never touch to fight away. It hung around in the deep recesses of my soul, heavy and foreboding.

I adored my Savior, Jesus. I was always moved in His presence and longed to serve and know him more. I trusted him. Well, at least I thought I did.

Then came a poignant moment when going through the most challenging months of my life. My face pressed against the shower stall, the hot steam inadequately calming my shaking body--another dreaded panic attack sinking its teeth into my being. My heart beat like a warring tribal drum and my soul rocked madly back and forth to the nauseating racing rhythm of fear.

What are you afraid of? Face it! Name it! Realize your enemy! The words buzzed around in my mind like a rude fly waking me out of an almost hypnotic fog of panic. What is this giant of fear? Stare it down! Don’t be a coward! I cried out to God, "Take this fear away from me. Hold me. I trust you!"

Do you? Do you really? These thoughts annoyed my consciousness. They probed me. This was the moment of naming, the moment I became aware of my greatest sin. For the first time I touched the fear that gnawed at my bones since a little girl. Yes, I loved God and He loved me, but would His love be kind? Would His love hurt? Would His love allow great loss or tragedy?

I had seen bad things happen to God’s children. Could I experience this and still rest in His arms? Could I lay my children in his arms? Could I fully let go? This was my fear and I finally met it face to face. I was a woman of the "faith" who now realized she had no faith, no faith in His love when the circumstances look horrific and there are now answers.

I had to admit I distrusted His sovereignty. This was huge to admit and it hurt to strip off all the pretty clothes of denial and stand naked before my God. If God’s love is truly bigger than any earthly crisis, if His ways and thoughts are truly higher than mine, and He reigns sovereign over all, I have absolutely nothing to fear.

My scandalous human heart had dared to distrust the Omnipotent God. My fears spat in God’s face and sent Him the message that my love was wiser than His and that I had to hold onto the reins of anxiety and control in case He did not do things my way.

The Scripture verse I knew so well from a child played in my ear, "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 13:6). Fear is the opposite of faith and yet my life had been paralyzed by it. I no longer needed the surface warmth of the hot shower and turned off the faucets. For the first time I realized my betrayal and laid my sorry heart in His to hold. He held it more tenderly than a sickly newborn babe and dripped little droplets of succoring milky comfort into the parched mouth of my soul. He gently uprooted the tumor of fear and made me strong again.

Deep soul rest was mine-- blissful communion, intimate, and abiding. There was nothing between us. The part of me I had refused to give away now lay quiet under His wings, quiet amidst the raging storms I faced, quiet when everything looked bleak, and quiet when the arms of my dearest dreams lay empty.

Quiet. Why? Because He is God. He is all-knowing, all-seeing, and His scope goes beyond this mortal realm and is set towards eternity. Why? Because He is the potter and I am the pliable clay, not the protesting clay. Why? Because He is the weaver of threads and He designs the tapestry. It’s a picture of love--divine love, crimson love, incomprehensible and self sacrificing love, a love that begets all love and covers me with no corners left unloved.

His love is kind, but not a weak insipid kind. His love is gentle, but fights to save until the bitter end. His love is the only really “lovely” love that’s not concerned with lovely circumstances and appearances, but the molding of lovely hearts.

His love covered Joseph when his brothers beat him and threw him into a pit. It never weakened when he was sold into slavery, faced wrongful accusations, and years of imprisonment. God sketched Joseph’s life with wisdom and divine artistry. The dark shadings of the picture brought more light to the crowning touches. Joseph’s suffering led him to Egypt where he was exalted next to Pharaoh and not only saved his family, but an entire nation. His whole story was stamped with the will of God. And in Joseph’s own words “what they meant for harm, God meant for good” (Genesis 50:20). Yes, God is good, all the time.

Creatures of mere dust and "worm-like" understanding cannot grasp the reason for our cocoon. All we know is the dark struggle. But, in this darkness our Creator is designing beautiful rainbow wings of flight. The pain and battle to push through this black curtain builds our strength. With the first light of blue sky the worm is gone and now we are creatures of a higher region. Rebuilt to fly. Designed to soar... above the dirt… to see life from a different perspective.

Science explains that if a butterfly is helped to escape its cocoon that it does not grow strong enough from its appointed struggle and will die and not take to the sky. God’s love is always there even in our blind cocoons of sorrows.

While God birthed this anchor of faith within me, He also breathed life into my womb. During this season of soul renewal and healing, I was blessed with the conception of my seventh biological child. I sensed this pregnancy harmonizing with a delivery from fear and a birth of deep soul rest. I continued growing in God's rest the entire pregnancy.

I had found my haven. When the poisoned arrows of anxiety darted about my mind, I ran to my home of refuge, to the most sheltered quiet haven of rest, my Father's huge heart of love for me. That was it! Haven Rest. The name for our little child growing stronger within me every day. My husband and I decided to use this name for either a boy or girl.

Three weeks before my due date I was still in Mississippi where my husband was on assignment for a six month job. The children and I planned to drive the eight hours to Tennessee to wash all the baby clothes and get ready for the birth back home. My husband still had one week to finish his assignment but wanted me to get back with time to prepare and relax.

As I started piling things in the car, labor pains came out of nowhere. About four hours later our little baby girl, Haven Rest, was born in the nearest Mississippi hospital. The beautiful thing was that my parents were speaking at an Above Rubies Family retreat in Louisiana about three hours west of Mississippi. They left the conference and my mother miraculously made it to her birth--out of state and out of our Tennessee plans!

Within minutes of her birth, Haven was taken from my arms with signs of struggled breathing. Within the next week, my little baby had all kinds of tubes and wires sticking in and out of her. She suffered through all kinds of blood tests and exams and her extreme rapid breathing continued. She was breathing so fast I could not hold or nurse her. She could not suck and breathe at the same time without causing her severe distress. She lay under an oxygen hood where a wet curtain of condensation blurred her face from mine. I couldn’t look in her eyes or console her needy cries.

My husband was working long hours and my parents had taken all the children home to Tennessee. I knew no one. I sat alone in my hospital room or by her incubator when I was allowed. As I pumped my breasts one lonely morning I longed for encouragement. I usually read the Bible on my iphone but my husband and I had swapped phones for a few days.

I remembered a little pocket New Testament and Psalms in my purse. It was old and dilapidated, always frustrating me with missing pages. Inscribed on the front cover was Nancy Colene Bowen, Te Puke, New Zealand. This was my mother’s maiden name and her home before marriage. To this day, I don’t know how it ended up at my house, or why I had put it in my purse to begin with. I picked up this tattered little Bible where an underlined section caught my eye. I browsed the rest of the Bible and seeing nothing else underlined, thought it might be meaningful.

Underlined in faded green ink was Psalm 107:27-31 “They... are at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still (as I sat beside her oxygen bed and stared at her monitor the nurse would say, "When those big waves start to calm down, you can take your baby home.") Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired HAVEN."

Goose bumps. A spine-tingling moment. My baby’s name is underlined before my very eyes. I didn’t even know the word "haven" was in the Bible! And it was "desired haven." She was all that I desired. My arms ached for her, my milk dripped for her, my eyes wept for my desired Haven. "Oh God, what are you saying to me?"

The next verse underlined was, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” I had been reading one-handed. I turned off the breast pump and lifted both arms in praise to God. He called this "wonderful works" and wonderful it was. My mother was 71 years old and five and a half decades before in a little town of Te Puke, New Zealand, she had underlined these words, including her 39th grandchild’s name to be used by God to calm my storm in Mississippi, USA. What a glorious tapestry He weaves. I have since discovered that this passage is the only time "haven" is used in the whole Bible.

God was testing me at the birth of Haven Rest. "Will you trust me? Will you be glad because you are quiet in soul?" The way I initially read these underlined verses on my hospital bed was backwards--verse 31 back up to verse 27. It started with the praising part, not with calming the waves first. I was told to praise Him and then He would bring me to my desired haven.

As I write to you, little Haven Rest nurses at my breast. God has brought me to my desired haven in the natural and in the spiritual. Both are God’s beautiful and cherished gifts to me.

Do you know “deep soul rest?” Do you relax carelessly on your Daddy’s knee, knowing that He holds every detail of your life in His gigantic marathon-loving heart? Do you breathe this satisfying air of true peace, not the tight rapid gasps of anxiousness? If not, name it, and allow your loving valiant Father to slay the giant and hold you in His never-slipping grip.

SERENE ALLISON

Primm Springs, Tennessee, USA

“To live by faith is to live by joy, confidence, and certainty about all that has to be done or suffered at each moment according to the designs of God. It is an order to animate and to maintain this life of faith that God allows the soul to be plunged into and carried away by the rough waters of so many pains, troubles, difficulties, fatigues and overthrows; for it requires faith to find God in all these things…in all these faith finds its food and support, it pierces through all and clings to the hand of God, the Giver of Life.”

~ Jean-Pierre de Caussade in Abandonments to Divine Providence