Let peace begin with me.

By Denise Gunderson

All I want for Christmas this year is... peace. Yeah, I know that sounds hokey, like a beauty pageant answer, but I truly do! Having five kids, ages 2 – 9, our house is anything but peaceful. But how can I find peace in a world that is so darn busy! How can I find peace when I am constantly battling the clutter that accumulates on the counters, in my office and in my room and every other nook and cranny in our house? How can I find peace when I’m forever driving to and from school, kid’s activities, grocery shopping and other errands? How do I find peace when all I seem to be doing is keeping myself busy, busy, busy?!

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time when there were no cars, when dinner was found in your backyard, and there were no cleaning supplies, washers/dryers, homework, malls, restaurants or even computers! Can you even imagine that? Well of course that will never happen so I just have to figure out how to live simply and peacefully in a world of chaos. Unfortunately, I don’t have the ultimate answer to finding this peace. I think it is a spiritual journey you must take and work on every day.

But I can say that one small piece to the puzzle can be found in three simple words my 2-year-old tells me to do every day. They are “sit with me.” If you think about this, all he is asking me to do is take time out from whatever I am doing and just sit with him for a few minutes. That is exactly what Christ wants us to do. He wants us to take time out of our busy schedules and sit with Him just a few minutes every day. So this Advent season, give Jesus the best gift of all, give Him your time. Rest assured you will be filled with a few joyful minutes of peace!