Peace is Possible

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 NIV

As I post this, we are 3,650 days - the 10-year anniversary of Jordyn leaving. It’s one of those milestones that I have written about. I cannot make this week easier, for me or for my family. The only way past it is to walk right through it.

I had a running count in my head through day 1,085. It was at that point I asked God to kindly turn off the counter. He thankfully gave me the window to stop that. The anniversary dates are hard, but not keeping count throughout the year helped. Unfortunately, on the ten-year mark all you have to do is add the zero. It is a big number.

I have done some yard projects to mark the days that are really hard. Landscaping helps me think. God has a lot of opportunity to talk to you when you are on your knees. Dirty hands help my heart even more. I put a pretty cool flower bed in my yard. It sort of marks the date for me, but I had an epiphany while I was doing it. Rather than count the days since I have seen her, why not use it as a count for how many days closer I am to seeing her?

It does not remove pain. Thinking that it does would be foolish. Fatigue is our foe this week. We are tired. My wife has pain I cannot remove. I told God I would take it, but it does not work that way. But it will get better. We can look at the same number of days from a heavenly perspective rather than from an earthly one. If heaven is not my destination, then all of this is pointless. However, I know it is my destination. I do not know when, but I know that I am 3,650 days closer to seeing her again than I was the day she left.

I have mentioned that a book called “Peace is Possible” was ready. It has been a long journey for me but attached you will find a link that you may use to download a copy. It is far from perfect. I am not a professional writer and it was not professionally edited. I am pretty sure that Miss Ireland, my high school English teacher, would not have been pleased with the number of grammatical errors. Please forgive me for those. I really did look at it before it printed.

They are not the point. Maybe they are. Perfection here is not the point. Peace is the point. So, read it if you want. Please share the link! This is not a financial plea, it’s free. He already gave me a job. I also have a spiritually based confidence that God wanted me to do this. Someone needs something in it. It is okay that I may never know them. I went out on the road to work this week. ALL DAY I heard about death, loss and struggle; it was striking and purposeful. I had a lady tell me a member of her family needed it. He needed to hear it from another parent, peace is possible. There are others just like him, just like me.

I have no plans to start any kind of planned distribution. It’s just you and me. After seeing it printed, I told my wife it’s more of a pamphlet than a book. It’s not that thick. It is, however, a picture of what God put on my heart. For my wife and kids – thank you. I cannot think of a large enough word to describe my love for you. Hang in there. Wait, maybe don’t just hang in there. Go thrive in spite of it. Life is fantastic. Heaven will be better. But until we get there to see her again, let’s have peace and let’s help others find it.

Challenge: Peace. You can have it, then please give it away. If you need help from me, let me know.

http://bit.ly/peaceispossiblegiveaway

Rick Claiborn