“Mom, don’t freak out…”

Yes. Those are the words that every mother longs to hear.

One of my kids, (who has asked to remain nameless,) had a little accident.

OK it was more than a little accident. I mean, just look that that license plate.

Thankfully, no one was hurt. No one, except for my car. (BTW, I have to give it up for my 11 year old Toyota Sienna. It has had rocks reign down on it, a tree fall on it, and taught teens to drive. That is the Energizer Bunny of Automobiles.)

All this occurred just hours before I am suppose to leave for a retreat. On peace.(Go ahead. Laugh ironically. I did before I cried.)

I have to tell you honestly. I wasn’t feeling it.

There have been work issues, family issues, and health issues. Plus, we have been moving rooms around. (Want to test a family’s peace level? Have them switch rooms around. I. Dare. You.)

I was jumpy, my heart kept racing, and I was on the verge of tears all the time.

But if there is one thing I have learned about peace it’s this: You don’t get to choose your circumstances, but you do get to choose who you let handle them.

When I respond with my oh-so-human response, I continue to be jumpy, my heart keeps racing and I am on the verge of tears all the time.

But when I finally, eventually, start praying and remembering what God has promised me, that is the only time that I can even begin to taste anything resembling peace.

The verse I go to in times like this is Isaiah 26:3

You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.

It is conditional. I get peace because:

1. I keep my mind on Him
2. I trust in Him

And when I do those things, I have peace.

So here is my question for you: What are the verse you rely on when you need to keep the peace? Because really, I am going to paste them up in my car. When it gets back from the shop.