In the Quiet

J.M.J. Ever feel like you just need a break from life? Hopefully you got that over Thanksgiving break. Ever feel like without some major changes in your life, you won't be able to experience peace ?  I love to pray for the peace that surpasses all understanding. That's one of my favorite prayers. I have learned that praying this prayer often brings with it some realizations that may not be so easy to face. Sometimes, to reach the peace that surpasses all understanding, you have to let go of and/or start doing new things in order to reach that. With Advent starting the new liturgical year in the church, I figured it was a good time to start making some changes. I always like new starts. They are a "reset button" of sorts. Sometimes, you just have to let go of something. What is that thing in your life right now? What just popped in your mind? What is God asking you to give over to Him so that you can live your life for Him more fully? He will giv

J.M.J. I'm sure you've heard about the concept of being God's instrument, right? Someone will say to you, you're the instrument of God in this situation! And you may wonder at some point, like I did, what exactly that means. As some of my readers know, I'm not the best at letting go and letting God. Actually, I really stink at it. Someone asked me recently, when I said that I was stressed out, "What do you have to be stressed out about?" When I stated that it was my classes, this person said, those are not stressful! I realized in that moment that although I was feeling burnt out, that this person was right. The classes themselves aren't stressful. How I'm reacting to them is. And, since they have impacted me in such a negative way this past semester, I'm going to take a step back from classes next semester and figure my life out. I digress. At different times in my life, people have reached out to me because they know I'm re