33“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
A car accident took the life of a four-year old on the interstate just a few miles from our home Friday morning. Snowy roads caused the driver to lose control.
My husband visited a couple of men in jail yesterday who are awaiting trials, verdicts, sentencing. Their families are waiting too. Scared, sad, uncertain of what tomorrow holds.
A friend of ours is at the hospital this morning after spending the night in the emergency room with his wife. Doctors are not sure what has caused her seizure: a blood clot in the brain, a stroke, they just don’t know yet.
Another friend of mine stopped by yesterday to talk. She’s worried about her son’s health.
So, I read the verse above and try to find some comfort.
I remember reading this verse one night in the hospital years ago when Nick was having terrible trouble with his IV. We had been told by a nurse that she would be back around 4am to give Nick medicine through the IV but that she couldn’t promise the IV wouldn’t “blow.” These words came after many, many tears and several new IVS throughout the day.
Nick was exhausted. I was exhausted. My mom was exhausted. Tim had gone home to be with our other kids for the night, and we felt very alone in a hospital room several hours from home.
And then I read this verse. I read it out loud to mom.
I still remember her voice in the darkness when she said with a sense of sadness, “Well, He’s not here yet.”
I guess that’s where the lifelong question of “Where is God when you need Him?” comes from.
Knowing that God created this world. Knowing He is the Master of the Universe.
And then getting phone calls, emails, knocks at your door…….
All of which deliver news that does not ring with the sound of peace.
So, I sit here this morning looking out at a beautiful snow glistening with sunshine and I realize that it’s not so much about God promising “earthly peace.” It’s about him offering “inner peace.”
See, after I read that verse to mom in the darkness of Nick’s hospital room, I had this spiritual nudge to go call a friend and ask her to pray with me.
Not long after that a nurse saw me crying and came and actually prayed with me right there on the hospital floor. She then came and did Nick’s IV medicine herself. It was amazing. It was God bringing peace in a world that has trouble.
We live in a world that has been tarnished by sin.
The beautiful white snow here eventually shows the effects of dirt, gravel, and mud.
We have to remember how it started. White, spotless, glistening.
And we have to believe that one day this world will be made new!!
My prayers this morning are for this family who is facing the loss of their little boy. That God will send people to pray with them. Family members and friends to love on them. Signs from above to comfort them.
And for the men in jail…I pray the same.
And for our friends at the hospital…..I pray the same.
And for my friend who is concerned about her son…..I pray the same.
For Nick, I don’t have to worry anymore about IVs going bad or MRIs holding devastating news. Peace has arrived in the most perfect sense for Nick. He has been made perfectly whole and new!
So my prayers are for me, my husband, my sons, my daughter, my parents, his friends….everyone who has to put life back together somehow with a missing piece.
We all have missing pieces in our lives, don’t we? Somehow. Maybe it’s a loss. Maybe it’s a bad memory from our childhood. Maybe it’s divorce or a child who has rebelled or illness that keeps us from feeling and healing whole.
My prayer today is that while we all live with some sort of missing piece…….
We won’t live a life that is “missing peace.”
Remember, Jesus says, “in me you may have peace.”
Thankful for the Master’s peace in a troubled world,
In December of 2007 as our youngest son, Nick, was fighting brain cancer, I began to blog. Writing provided a way for me to release all of my questions, fears, and doubts. It also allowed me to share the ups and downs of Nick's journey with people who were praying for him all over the world. When Nick went Home in November of 2008, my blog became my way of searching for God in the midst of my deep heartache. My heart was broken and grief brought to the surface every emotion imaginable. Being able to release those emotions through my writing brought a sense of purpose to my pain. Having already walked the road of grief in 1992 when we lost our daughter to SIDS, I knew I needed a way to keep from falling into a pit of depression and despair. I had walked close to the edge of a bottomless pit when we lost our daughter,and I knew I couldn't let myself get that close to the edge again. This blog has been and continues to be my tiny corner of the world where I can share My Heart as I journey through God's Word.......thus the name........ My Heart His Words. Thank you for taking time to share life with me. If we do not meet while here on earth, I look forward to hearing all about your life when we reach our final destiny.........Heaven! Email me anytime at 
This week… almost 200 people lost their jobs where I work. Our department specifically lost one of the smartest and best managers I have ever known. This man hired me when I really needed a job. This man knows pretty much EVERYTHING we encounter there on a day to day basis. This man is a good man with a family. While he no longer has to deal with the daily torment of those in management above him and while I know that this was really probably a good thing for him… I miss him terribly. I walk by his cube and his things are no longer there. My manager goes to his cube to chat with him and finds… he’s no longer there. I told her the day of the layoffs… “I know he’s not dead but it feels like it”. It’s a great loss to our team, department and the company as a whole. I find myself experiencing the grieving process… the tears, anger, heaviness, numbness… the whole range. And yet…. I know that God is here even in the midst of this. I know that somehow God will take care of him and his family and I know that somehow God will heal our hearts. He will take care of what we see as injustice and will bring justice. He will take the turmoil of work and bring His peace and wholeness.
It’s so unexplainable how God brings peace in the midst of our storms in life. It’s amazing how He brings the “peace that passes all understanding” but you stated it well… He brings peace when we go to Him in prayer. When we cry out to Him in the midst of the storm… He hears us and calms the storm… and even when the winds are still raging around us… He brings peace.
I love you dear Tammy and I pray for peace for you today… and more grace, grace, grace and strength for each new day. Be blessed today knowing that you have truly blessed my life in SO many ways!!
Thank you Tammy for this beautiful post. God has certainly blessed you with the gift of encouragemnet to others even as you grieve Nick’s physical absence from your family. I know his spirit is very close to you all.
Blessings, Linda Peel
Lexinton, KY
Wow Tammy, you have done it once again. You seem to have the right words to say each time I need to hear them. Thank you again for being such a blessing.
Beautiful – so touching, so real and so STRONG! Know that you are being lifted to His throne in prayer!!!
I am reading through the Bible–chronologically, and I love the themes that I find. For example, God hears the cries of His people–and He provides deliverance–not always in the timeframe that His people would like–but He always comes through–ie Joseph, Israelites in Egypt, etc. God’s character and ways are changeless–so we can count on history repeating itself in our lives, too!
We drove through Kentucky yesterday on the way home from Florida. Amazed at all the downed trees and broken limbs. I will be praying for the broken, sad family of the little one.
I just wanted to come by and say congratulations for being one of the Internet Cafe’s Top 100 Christian Women’s Blogs of 2008! You are truly a blessing. Thank you for the many ways that you serve!
Thank you for the much needed reminder.
Dear Tammy,
I just want to tell you what an impact you have made on my life. I love reading your daily blogs. I can’t wait to get home each day and see what you have to say. You are helping to bring me closer to God each day. You write from the heart and touch so many others. I love how you bring in everyday experiences and happenings and show us how God guides and loves us. You are truly a blessing and a wonderful voice for God. Love ya,
Sherry Jenkins
Oh, how fitting for you to be among the top 100 blogs Tammy!!!
Congratulations!
Truly you have such a heart after God.
Great post♥
Love this beautiful peace of your heart.