This is the week of peace.
I squatted on the sand in my sneakers and gym shorts this week. I looked out into the ocean. I looked down into the sand. I listened.
Just breathe.
Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?
Matthew 6:26
Not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
Matthew 10:29-30
If all of God’s people would just breathe.
We crave the sweet togetherness of the holidays. Togetherness also brings out the tensions within our beloved relationships. The response to the tension is love. The deeper our love is connected to God’s truth, the deeper the love permeates the heart.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
As we love through the tension, deep into the hearts of our beloved, let’s welcome what is right, pure and lovely over the reality of the tension. Let’s breathe in and out what is excellent and praiseworthy.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8
Just breathe.
And the God of Peace will be with you.
Love always,
Sasha
