When you Let a Truth Marinate...

The last few days have been hard to put into words.  I feel like Jesus is doing a work inside of me that is hard for me to describe.  I've been reading the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp which I would highly recommend for everyone to read!  Her descriptive writing style is mesmerizing and I was completely hooked when she began talking about the challenge she took on of writing a list of 1,000 gifts she was thankful for (Thus, the title :)).  What I loved about her list as she began it was that it was the small little moments, the details that would completely go unseen if you weren't stopping to look for them that she captured on paper.  I'm still not even halfway through but it has been one of those books that I feel I need to read slow because it challenges you to live slow.

One of the topics she speaks on is of being fully alive and present in each moment.  I've always said, "Be where your feet are." mainly because it's probably one of the hardest things for my adventuring-feet to learn.  Reading this book slow and really allowing the words to soak into my soul to be planted and take root on their own has caused me to understand it translating into my life more.  I've been seeking to live in each moment and to find the joy in everything and everyone I come into contact with.  I think sometimes I have truths in me but I don't allow them to completely take root and grow to blossom into a flower for everyone I come into contact with.  When you don't allow that growth you grow weary, frustrated, and far from life-giving.

Peace is one of those truths that I think is taking root.  One blessing about reading a book slow is that there are truths you don't even realize are marinating inside of you until they just, "ding! I'm ready to come out!"  I was reflecting today and one of those truths just kind of hit.  When I think about the verse Philippians 4:6-7 I have always thought of it as peace being something that you pray for specifically in a trial and it will be a feeling that just comes over you.  While that specifically has happened many times for many people, the truth that hit me when thinking about the maturing of your faith was of peace being a truth that you learn, that will be there to guard your heart in all times of anxious situations and the calm.  

Something about taking life slow and learning to be in every moment of life fully is when unspeakable joy comes.  When you live slowly, it's kind of like putting on glasses for the first time, seeing 20/20 when you've only thought the world was seen in a blur.  You see so much more joy and beauty in the mundane and in the people you are faced with everyday.  Seeing these small gifts in the everyday help you know the Gift-Giver, the Father-heart of God in fresh ways.  Peace begins to engulf you not because of the gifts but because you are seeing His beauty and His love for you.  It's not shielding yourself from the world, it is guarding your heart with the truths and beauty of who He is so you can further see and help the world.

Because trials do come, heartache does manifest.  But taking life slow, seeing the world with 20/20 spiritual eyes, allowing peace to be a truth that grows inside of you daily because of your assurance in Him will be the firm foundation that you stand on and help others stand on when the battles rage.