This is My Peace Week. When is Yours?

This is my Peace week.  A week that I am carving out time in my life to just experience intentional Peace.

So what does that look like? Well, honestly, I’m not sure, I’ve never done it before.  I’ve never heard of it before.  I just made the decision that in the middle of chaos and solving problems, and helping everyone else, and doing for everybody else, and baseball practice, and assignments, and deadlines, and agendas, and meal planning, and workout contemplating, that I need to just STOP.

Stop letting my day consume me and find a week where I consume my day.

You see, my days can get so filled that I tend to cross out things on my to-do list while I am driving to the next thing on my to-do list.  I need to stop.  I need to pause.  I need to breathe.  I need to inhale.  I need to exhale.  I need to just stop.

I’m sharing that with you because I am convinced I am not alone.  I’m convinced that your days and your weeks and all these months are eating you alive too.

I have no complaints my friends. I love everything I do (well besides housework).  I love most of the things on my to-do list.  They are my giftings, they are my blessings, they are loving others in the middle of their pain and I am grateful for every bit I pour into others.  But I need to pause.  I need days filled with my choosing instead of my day choosing me. So this week, I am doing just that.

This week will be filled with Peace, practicing Peace, noticing Peace, and sitting in Peace.  Sounds peaceful, right?

But, before you go thinking I am about to board a plane to the closest island, let me get more specific. I have cleared my schedule of outpouring and this week will be filled with inpouring.  I will read, I will write, I will go for a run, I will see a few of my friends, I will blare all the music, and I will dance even if people are looking, because this is my Peace week.  I am filling this week with all the things I want to fill it with.

I will still do dishes, and I just got done vacuuming the floor, all while I wait for the dryer to remind me what’s up next, but I am just feeling Peace.  My kids will still need dinner and my daughter still has gymnastics, all the while I am choosing Peace.

Peace Week doesn’t mean I am not a mother, I’m just a Peaceful one.

Peace Week doesn’t mean I won’t answer my phone, I’ll just decide if I want to answer it.

Peace Week doesn’t mean I won’t do laundry, I’ll just be more grateful for these people than I normally am.

Peace Week doesn’t mean I won’t lift a finger, it just means I’ll think about the fact that I’m lifting a finger.

It means I’ll pause before I move.

For me, Peace means Yoga pants,. It means carrying a mug all around the house even if I forget to drink it.  It means passion, and doing all the things that last week were on the bottom of my list.  It is void of drama, and it is filled with love.  It means being silly-stupid with my husband and laughing about things that aren’t usually funny when we’re consumed with stress.  It means spontaneity, and it will consist of an indulgence in something sweet to eat.  Peace for me consists of a smile, of gratitude, and contentment for this moment.  It is being creative without a deadline, and it is stopping to compliment the people I quickly pass.

This is my Peace Week. Things will happen.  Sadness will show in some form.  But I will choose to just have Peace, feel Peace, and believe that Peace is offered to me.

If you were sitting with me, here’s how our next discussion would go:

You:  So, why Peace Week Emily, why have a week doing something you should practice all year long?

Emily’s response: “I don’t know. Why celebrate Easter when we should celebrate it all year long?  Maybe it’s more to do with the reminder this week of something I shouldn’t ever forget. Maybe it’s about having a week to practice something with intentionality that I hope I don’t lose when next week begins. I don’t know, I just know I need it. I know that whatever it is and turns out to be, that I was desperate for it.”

I read a quote a few weeks ago that said “Be the leader that people will want to follow” and its had me reflecting in every area of my life.  I lead a lot of things and a lot of people.  They are watching me, looking up to me, and seeing how I live my everyday life. My biggest observers are the three little ones that follow me everywhere in this house.  I want to be the leader even they want to follow, and having a week where I pause, where I appreciate, where I find things to fill and pour into me is a great lesson I want to model for them and for all of you.

This is my Peace Week.

Here’s the two questions I have for you:

• What does Peace mean to you?
• How about looking at your calendar and planning yours?

Stay connected and leave a comment!!!  And, I’d love for you to join this journey!  We’re all on one, you don’t need to walk down yours alone.  Stick around with us. Click the “follow” button to join us for weekly encounters as we seek out spiritual freedom and emotional encouragement.  It just won’t be the same without you here.