Let There Be Peace. And Let It Be Now.

You know how sometimes you wake up and can’t open your mouth because your jaw is completely locked? Yeah, me neither. Until last Tuesday.

I just sat there in bed, trying to figure out what to do.
It didn’t hurt. It just wouldn’t move.
After a few attempts, it finally popped open, and from that moment on, every time I opened my mouth, it clicked.
Talking, chewing, yawning, you name it.

By that evening, I told my husband, I think something’s wrong with my jaw.
He looked up from what he was doing and said, You mean besides the noise? 

Then the next morning, my wrist started popping.
Same side.
Also painless. Also weird.

I asked Terry if he thought there was a Facebook group for people with both TMJ and carpal tunnel, and he said, Probably, but no one’s posted in it. They can’t type or talk.

But I didn’t need a Facebook group to tell me that I’d been holding everything, my jaw, my schedule, my to-do list, way too tightly. I had been running so fast that my body finally decided to start communicating in Morse code.

Click. You’re. Click. Doing. Click. Too. Click. Much.
It’s no coincidence that my body spoke up just as the season at Rustic Cuff reaches full speed. The weeks between November and Christmas are what we lovingly call the Super Bowl of retail. Orders flying in, boxes stacked everywhere, holiday music on repeat, and everyone moving in ten directions at once.

Everywhere I turn, I see the word peace printed on everything. 
But it doesn’t always match how life feels in this season. 
Most years, I don’t actually feel peace until December 26th.

This year, however, I want peace to sit right in the middle of the season.
I want it to show up while the wrapping paper is still on the floor and the lists are still half done.
My hope is that you will find it there, too.
Peace is not a finish line. It’s a presence. It’s a person.
And He never asked us to chase Him down.
He asks us to slow down long enough to notice He is already there.

Maybe your life looks full right now.
Maybe you’re holding everything so tightly that your body is starting to tell on you too.
Take a deep breath and let yourself stop for a moment.

Sit in the quiet, even if it’s just long enough to feel your shoulders drop.
And in the quiet you’ll find that God’s peace will meet you right where you are, not where you’re trying to be.

The next step after stillness is being fully present for what’s right in front of you.
When you’re decorating the tree, decorate the tree.  When you’re at dinner, be at dinner.
Multitasking looks productive, but it steals your peace one distraction at a time.

So as the lights go up, as the music plays, as the pace quickens, let there also be stillness.
Let there be joy that doesn’t depend on the checklist being complete.

Let there be peace.
 
And let it be now.