Day 30, 31 Days of December Peace ~ Don’t Wait

December 30, 2014 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Silence as you read. This piano solo is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

“If you’re waiting to do something with your spouse, don’t wait.” These words rocked my world in the final hour of a men’s weekend retreat in May 2008. Even if you’re not married, read on. All of us are waiting to do something. Maybe you’ve waited long enough.

The Souly Business retreat had brought several powerful moments. I thought I had experienced all that God was going to do. Then, during a talk titled Finishing Well these words cut straight to my heart. The speaker told a story about a very successful Texas chicken farmer, who had died suddenly from a heart attack. At his funeral service, his wife said, “If your waiting to do something with your spouse, don’t wait.”

Ever since 1995, for thirteen years, my wife and I had received a newsletter twice each year inviting us to consider a trip to Greece and Turkey. They were always mailed from the same couple who had led a group of twenty people, including us, on a spring 1995 pilgrimage to Israel. That experience was unforgettable. We had never seen the Bible come so alive and be confirmed so incredibly – geographically, archaeologically, and spiritually.

We knew Greece and Turkey would be just as amazing. It was called The Journey’s of Paul. The itinerary included Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, the island of Patmos where John wrote Revelation, Instanbul and much more. It just wasn’t practical. In the 1990s we both worked and it was just us. No kids. But from 1995 to 2005 our two children were born and an unexpected career curve ball was pitched to us. In 2004 I left a ten-year financial planning job to found Music to Light the World and become a full-time pianist and composer. Since then, our finances had been “just in time” with no surplus.

When the “don’t wait” words stirred my heart with such clarity, I sensed God whispering, “Take a leap of faith. Trust me. You’ve waited long enough. It’s time to do this thing with your wife. Go on the Greece-Turkey trip.” It was crazy from a worldly perspective. I would have to make a withdrawal from my IRA, paying a 10% penalty and income taxes on the entire amount. Yet, there I stood. After each talk there was a space for a few men to speak their mind. For the first time during the weekend I was telling eighty guys what had just happened. Apparently we were supposed to take this trip and not wait. But we were living month-to-month, and our only savings was in retirement accounts. And, I was a former financial planner and would be withdrawing the cost of the trip from my IRA (the room erupted with laughter at this point). Yes, God does have a sense of humor!

I have found when we move forward by faith, things start to line up. They don’t line up in advance. All the steps are not clear if we wait too long. But when we follow God’s nudges, He reveals things little by little. Like the $1,000 down payment toward our trip that was a gift from a complete stranger at the retreat, who heard my story and just “happened” to have been assigned the job of praying for me in secret the entire weekend. Like the fact that our parents’ schedules were open so they could stay at our house with the kids. It was stunning to witness all that took place. This story alone is one reason I live by faith in a God who loves us more than we can imagine. Even when life doesn’t make sense. Even when I have my doubts. Isaiah 41:10 says, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

What are you waiting to do? Don’t wait too long. Take a leap of faith.

Day 29, 31 Days of December Peace ~ Pursuing Your Passions, Part 2

December 29, 2014 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming as you read. This piano solo is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

Continuing from yesterday…

In the summer of 2004, I left Ronald Blue & Co. to become a full-time pianist and composer after founding Music to Light the World. The greatest blessing of my call to financial planning was not that it was a life calling, but that I had learned God would speak to me and I could hear His voice if my heart was surrendered to Him. The improbability of my career shifting from money to music is a miracle and a mystery that has stretched our faith, but God has been faithful.

The principles of Ronald Blue & Co. were vital in giving my wife and me the financial ability to follow God’s call. We both worked before having children, lived well within our means, and paid off all of our debts except our home mortgage. We made extra principal payments over time and were able to convert from a 30-year to a 15-year mortgage with the same payment. We maximized and diversified our savings using recommended money market and mutual funds. God also challenged us to be more generous in our giving during these years.

Below are two additional steps and scriptures that have had a powerful impact on our faith journey. I hope they inspire and encourage you to pursue your passions.

3. Invite. After you have prayerfully asked God to speak, waited upon Him, listened for His voice, obeyed what He says, and clarified the vision He has revealed to you, then you are ready to invite others to pray for you and even contribute to your cause. Ask God to help you seek to please Him and not men. “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24).

4. Imitate. Imitate the faith of others who are surrendered to God and seeking His will in their lives. Spend time with them and learn from them. Imitate Jesus’ desire to please the Father. “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’ Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:6-7).

Is it time to invite others into your vision and story? Who can you imitate?

Day 28, 31 Days of December Peace ~ Pursuing Your Passions, Part 1

December 28, 2014 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Coventry Carol as you read. This piano solo is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

In 1994, at the age of 30, I surrendered my career life to God and asked Him to show me what He wanted me to do. After getting an MBA and spending five years in consulting and sales, the time had come to trust God 100% instead of asking Him to join me in what I was doing.

In 1995, God called me to Ronald Blue & Co. to become a financial planner. It was the clearest sense of direction I had experienced in my life. So clear, in fact, that I thought the greatest blessing was that I had found my life calling. It was a joy and a privilege to wake up each day and give financial counsel to clients based on a biblical perspective.

Working with clients on financial and life stewardship caused me to ask myself the same questions I would often discuss with clients. How much is enough? What are your passions? As I reflected, my heart was stirred to revive a lifelong passion I had for playing the piano and writing songs. “Baby steps” of faith led me to a place where God inspired me to compose instrumental melodies to help people slow down and experience His peace. The next year, I released my first CD and gave it away to friends, clients and co-workers. More and more people began to enjoy and share my music and two more albums followed.

Below are the first two steps that had a powerful impact on my faith journey. I hope they inspire and encourage you to pursue your passions.

1. Invest. In 1999 I had a stirring in my heart that I was supposed to invest in a keyboard and computer to record some old songs I had written in high school. God’s voice just would not go away on this, so I gathered information for six months, waited upon the Lord, and took action steps to obey and invest. Following this, God revealed a new idea to create solo piano from scripture to bring peace to the soul. “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).

2. Invigorate. What is it that invigorates you (i.e. refreshes, revitalizes, stimulates, enlivens, energizes, rejuvenates, animates, strengthens, livens you up)? Make sure to integrate whatever “it” is into your life, even if this means just a few minutes each day or a few hours each week. Make the most of life right now where you are. “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free” (Psalm 119:32).

Are you hearing God’s still small voice telling you to invest in some way? What invigorates you?

To be continued tomorrow…

Day 27, 31 Days of December Peace ~ Where Did All the Time Go?

December 27, 2014 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Thanksgiving as you read. This original, piano-English horn duet is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

On the one hand it is just another month. Through the demands of other’s expectations and crowded calendars, the routine takes over and seems to direct us wherever it wants us to go. Each week is filled with days passing by and each increases in velocity. It can seem quite mundane in the routine busyness of it all. Or worse, it can be a blur of to dos that leave us feeling empty and worn out.

And yet, the fact that December is the final month of the year distinctly sets it apart. Regardless of the type of year we have experienced, it closes that chapter. As we begin turning this page, the ending comes with a new beginning. Something magical happens in us as we realize the passing of time that has occurred; the brevity of this life becomes clearer in our thoughts. We ask ourselves and each other, “Where did all the time go?” as we secretly hope that something meaningful was achieved.

But before we can see the shadow cast completely, December ushers us into in an overwhelming rush of joy, brilliance and awe. We learn again and again… that the world we live in, filled with the beauty and pain of our humanity, has been pierced with the invasion of a supernatural Savior. Rescue has come. Rescue is here. Love becomes real, for Love took on flesh. In the most amazing story in all of human history, God became one of us.

Turning an eye to a new starting line with hope of how we can live out the coming chapter with more vigor, more urgency and yet have greater Peace, we see the opportunity for redemption of time and we can live more contentedly.

So when we see this rightly, December leaves us grateful. Let us write the next year’s chapter well.

Day 26, 31 Days of December Peace ~ The Skyride

December 26, 2014 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Snow Angel as you read. This original, piano-cello duet is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

Every December, high atop Georgia’s Stone Mountain, there are long strings of lights fashioned to a tall pole, arranged in such a way that from any part of the city of Atlanta, it looks like a giant Christmas tree.

Stone Mountain is just what it sounds like, an enormous mountain of granite that rises almost 900 feet into the suburban Atlanta sky. It’s got a carving of three confederate soldiers on its face, the largest carving of its kind in the world. And all around the mountain are tourist-friendly activities. A train, a riverboat, even a 3-D movie and mini-golf.

There’s also the Summit Skyride, high-speed Swiss cable cars that transport passengers from the base of the mountain to the top. Skyride operators collect tickets, load the cars, and press the buttons that put the whole process in motion. In college, this was one of my jobs. I was a Skyride operator for an entire summer, and when Winter Break hit, I went back for a few weeks to earn some extra money.

In December, the Skyride operator had an additional responsibility. One operator per day got the opportunity at dusk to flip the switch that powered the lights of the Christmas tree. With one motion light shined to an entire city. Nearing the end of my 3-week holiday stint, I finally got my chance to turn on the Christmas tree. I’m pretty sure Christmas day had already passed, but I didn’t care. I was excited about the privilege of powering it up. On that night, I brought the light of Christmas to an entire city. Never mind that it was a simple task and if I had not done it, any other minimum-wage-earning chump like me could have accomplished it.

I think that was part of the beauty of it. Becoming a source of light to others didn’t require a fancy job, expensive degrees, or full bank accounts. It just required a willingness to serve and a single touch.

Christmas is a reminder to all of us that God has brought light to the world. Without the birth of Jesus and the glory He carried into this broken planet, there would be no peace on earth in December or any other time. Through Jesus, God reached down and touched humanity. And that touch illuminated not just the city of Bethlehem, not just the world at that time, but it provided light for all cities, for all times, for every person, forevermore. Jesus didn’t have a fancy job, a college degree, or a lot of money. His parents didn’t even have a room to stay in upon his arrival. He was born and placed on hay in the rough rock of an animal feeding trough.

And that moment continues to be the pinpoint that opened a dark world up again to a flood of the brilliant and beautiful and breathtaking light of God.

May the Light of the world bring peace to you and your city this December.

Day 25, 31 Days of December Peace ~ Shepherds and Stars

December 25, 2014 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Shepherds and Stars as you read (inspired by Luke 2). This original song is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

“The aim and final end of all music should be unto the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)

In arranging and composing for December Peace, my heart was to offer God’s peace and rest through a distinctive collection of traditional and original piano melodies. Johann Sebastian Bach, my all-time favorite composer, once said, “The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” In tribute to him, the album opens with his timeless music known as Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.

When my parents didn’t let me quit piano lessons in 7th grade, I had no way of knowing that one day I would create my own arrangement of this world-renowned melody. Bach’s legacy of glorifying God and refreshing souls lives on, as Jesu is performed at weddings around the world nearly 300 years after its composition.

“There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them… saying, “Today… a Savior has been born to you.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” – Luke, 60 A.D.

In the fullness and busyness of the Christmas season, these words taken from Luke 2:8-15 give me reason to pause on Christmas Day. They inspired one of my favorite original compositions titled Shepherds and Stars, which expresses the heart of December Peace. Close your eyes and visit the scene. See the moon and stars shining, hear the sounds of fields at night, smell the aroma of dew and sheep… Imagine seeing the angel, announcing the Savior’s birth, and then the night sky filling with countless angels speaking of glory to God, and peace to men.

As I reflected on this story, here are two things I noticed:

1. The shepherds decided the event described to them was worth a visit. As you listen for God’s gentle whisper, what activity is He inviting you into?

2. We are all “shepherds in the field” living out daily life. God wants us to have encounters with Him. He wants to speak into our lives. Will you be intentional to watch for Him?

During this stressful and busy time of year, remember to pause on Christmas Day. Listen for God’s gentle whisper. Watch for His activity. Behold His glory. Refresh in His presence.

Merry Christmas!

Day 23, 31 Days of December Peace ~ God is not Silent

December 23, 2014 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Away in a Manger as you read. This piano solo is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14

Meditation
Despite what anyone may think or feel, despite what you may have felt at times, God is not silent. Throughout history, he has used whatever it took to reach the ears of the people whom he loved. He spoke to Moses on a mountain so people would know how to live. He spoke to Elijah in a still small voice to tell him that he was not alone and that his mission was not completed. He spoke to Ezekiel through a vision so that Ezekiel would not fail to tell his exiled people that God could go anywhere. He spoke through dreams and visions and visitations, through angels, through a donkey, through his law. He spoke volumes through the prophets, who each received a certain measure of the revelation of God. But their revelation was incomplete. So God, himself, in the flesh, came down. God’s final word to mankind was Jesus Christ, Son of God, the “image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15), “the radiance of God’s glory” (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus did not just speak about God or for God (as the prophets had). He spoke as God. The entire universe belonged to a tiny baby in a manger who would grow up and speak the most important words we would ever hear. No wonder we failed to understand. But now that we do, we must do as Moses commanded: when the one God sends comes, we must listen to everything he tells us.

Prayer
Holy Son of the living God, all the Scripture that was written prior to your incarnation pointed directly to you and anticipated your person and work. You are the perfect fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies that spoke of your redeeming work as the Savior of the world, and of the prophecies that remain to be fulfilled when you come to judge the world and rule in righteousness. It is clear to me that I cannot fully understand your great story without the witness of inspired Scripture prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus. Remind me to regularly expose myself to the whole counsel of your Word by drinking deeply from the well of both Testaments. Grant me the time to read, meditate, pray and trust in your promises found there, and allow me to see Jesus in every page. In your life-giving name I pray. Amen.

Day 22, 31 Days of December Peace ~ The Greatest Gift

December 22, 2014 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring as you read. This piano solo is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

Sunday, November 28, 1972. It was a big day. A really big day.

I turned 11, and my parents gave me the greatest gift ever – a black Schwinn bike, complete with a sparkly, silver banana seat and high handle bars. It wasn’t just cool, it was going to be the coolest bike in the bike rack in front of Ben Franklin Elementary School on Monday… and, it was!

Friday, December 3, 1972. It was a bad day. A really bad day.

Probably in my arrogance, I was admiring my new bike more than I should. I parked it in the bike rack that morning and in a rush, failed to remember to put the lock on it.

During recess, I took every opportunity to look at it. It was so cool. But when I came out at the end of the school day to get my incredible bike to ride home, I couldn’t believe me eyes. My stomach dropped. There was the bike rack. But my bike was nowhere in sight. It had disappeared. Stolen.I ran inside to the principal’s office and turned in a report, although I don’t think it did much good. Mr. Taylor wasn’t very fond of me anyway. It was a long, long walk home that day.

Friday, December 24, 1972. A day I will never, ever forget.

My extended family on my mom’s side had driven from Dallas and Waco to spend Christmas with our family. Among the bunch was my great uncle Bill (his real name was David, and I was named after him).

Uncle Bill was one tough hombre, as bald as bald could be. All of us kids were all a bit scared of him. He never married because he was in the FBI… whoa! He would never tell us what he did, so you can imagine what we thought he did. Uncle Bill lived by himself in an old house where my great-grandparents had lived in Waco, Texas. I always remember thinking how poor he was.

Christmas Eve can be magical for a 10-year-old boy. You can guess what I hoped for, but knew I wouldn’t receive.

Of course, another bike.

Sure enough, when Santa showed up… Schwinn did not. I knew it was all my fault I didn’t have a bike.After we opened our presents, Uncle Bill called my dad and me into my parents’ bedroom. I remember it like it was yesterday. I thought I was in trouble, as it was a condition I often found myself in. Uncle Bill pulled out his old leather wallet, opened it up, and took out a crisp brand new $100 dollar bill. I had never seen one in my life. He told me he heard about my bike being stolen and wanted to give me $100 dollars so I could go with my dad to get a new bike.

I just stared at it. I couldn’t believe it. Tears come even now, as I see this memory so clearly in my mind’s eye.

You see… generosity changes everything. I never looked at Uncle Bill the same. Here was a man that gave far more than he could afford to help a kid get a bike. Generosity is a strong, powerful, and mysterious thing. It changes us when we do it. It changes us when it’s done to us. That day forever changed that boy and this man.

May you experience generosity and the peace that comes from it this December, as we celebrate the One who would give the greatest gift of all.

Day 20, 31 Days of December Peace ~ The Inspiration for Peace

December 20, 2014 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Peace as you read. This piano-angelic vocals duet is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

Since Peace is one of my top songs on iTunes and a listener favorite around the world, I wanted to share some of the story behind this melody, originally inspired and composed for my fourth album, The Voice (in 2009 it was remastered and is featured as the closing track on December Peace). I started composing Peace in December 2004, and unlike most of my songs, it took another six months to reach its final form. It was recorded in August 2005 at the George Lucas Skywalker Sound Studios in California, with Grammy winning producer Will Ackerman. The angelic vocals of Noah Wilding were added a few weeks later at his Imaginary Road Studios in Vermont.

This composition was inspired by a little girl named Hayley, who died of leukemia at 22 months old, and whose life will always remind me to treasure every moment with childlike faith. When I received the phone call December 19, 2004 with news of her passing, I couldn’t sleep. I found refuge at my basement keyboard into the night. With headphones on, and everyone else in the house asleep, I started writing a song to remember and honor Hayley’s life.

The first version of Peace was like a music box lullaby. As the months went by before recording The Voice, the music evolved to a deeper place that attempts to share a peace that transcends circumstances, a peace that passes all understanding…a peace that Hayley knows and would want us to know. The delicate vocals are like those of an angel watching over Hayley, and each of us. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

Hayley’s life was an inspiration to thousands of people who followed her story and prayed for her. I played Peace at her funeral, then her story led to Peace and other melodies being played at services of remembrance for families who had lost a child to cancer. Music to Light the World began donating CDs to offer hope and healing. Today this program is called Get Music Give Hope, and every year at least one CD is donated (sometimes several) for every CD sold. Thanks to generous customers and donors, 60,000 donated CDs have touched 600,000 lives (updated for 2014) as patients, family members, friends and caregivers have listened to the music in cancer centers and hospitals around the world. Thank you God for Hayley.

Day 19, 31 Days of December Peace ~ His Peace

December 19, 2014 By Stanton Lanier Leave a Comment

Click above to listen to Angels We Have Heard On High as you read. This piano-cello duet is from 2009 Best Holiday Album December Peace (ZMR Awards, winning over Enya and Yo-Yo Ma). If you enjoy, please consider sampling and ordering the CD, MP3 Album or sheet music. You can also listen and download on iTunes and all other digital outlets.

This story is from 31 Days of December Peace (soft cover or eBook). Also available from Amazon Kindle, iTunes, and other e-Readers.

Where could you use some “December Peace” today?

Peace took on new meaning for my family in 2004. That December found us holding our first and then only daughter, Hayley, close in our arms, day after day, as we awaited her final breath. Years of faith, prayers of loved ones, and Scripture-inspired music surrounded us daily and reminded us of the eternity we one day would share together; the knowledge of Hayley’s imminent death, though, remained wrenching. I remember constantly kissing her forehead, as I had a lifetime of love to fit into an unknown, but certainly short, number of days. I wanted the warmth of her cheek on mine and the memory of holding this cherished gift from God to be etched on my heart forever.

Hayley would pass away from an aggressive form of leukemia on December 19, 2004, having been home under hospice care for several weeks. A year filled with hospital rooms, intense chemotherapy, more than 60 blood and platelet transfusions, full-body irradiation, and a cord blood transplant would come to an end that evening with our daughter taking her last breath…six weeks before her second birthday.

December Peace is His Peace. His Peace brought tears of joy to my eyes and compelled my heart to sing praise as my precious daughter smiled, took her last breath, and left this world forever. His Peace was joy amidst anguish.

His Peace continues to turn my fear, anger and confusion into faith, love and compassion, and helps me look forward for comfort rather than backward for explanations. And it is His Peace that now fills my Decembers with visions of my baby girl running into His arms.

This life is full of difficult, sometimes nearly impossible-to-bear circumstances. His Peace reminds me that there is an eternity beyond what we can imagine. His Peace reminds me that all that is ahead is so much greater than anything we will leave behind. His Peace reminds me that He is in control AND that I am loved.

His Peace frees me. His Peace brings me to contentment, even when my heart aches… especially in December.