My friends and I were talking about my youngest daughter who just celebrated her sweet 16. We were at the party and the subject came up about Stephie wanting her way, and not allowing us to play "our music" at her party. One of them said, "She is not the boss, you are." Which is true, however the other one said, "I think Ann is trying to keep the peace." This is certainly what I try to do when it comes to balancing four children, a husband, and my own desires as well. We did get "our music", and the DJ was very gracious in playing music from my husband's era, the 60's, and christian music which I love. Sometimes it is all in how you approach matters.

I'm not saying that I am a great peacemaker, because I'm not. I say and do things that could be said in a nicer way, or with more finesse. I am better at waiting on the Lord for the right words and attitudes than I was in the past. I am a work in progress, and will be until the day I die. God doesn't have an expiration date, where He will cut me off after a certain amount of tries. He is long suffering with all of us, and will wait for a bountiful harvest. What I know about Him is better today than yesterday, and then other times, I feel as if I don't know Him that well. Especially when I notice the enormity of who God is, I remember that He said He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. In our dailyness, we can forget the vast resources of all that He possesses and how He works in our lives.

He works in a quiet way, and if we don't look carefully, we can miss what He is doing. Our society is caught up in busyness, for the sake of being busy, and not really doing what is best for us or our families. As His children, we need to watch out for the busyness that leads to nothing. I can say for myself, I can spend too much time on Facebook, doing nothing, but 2 hours have slide by, and all I have for it is screen shock. What I refer to as screen shock is the memorized feeling we can have after looking at a computer screen for too long, without anything to show for it.

We need down time for sure, but I can do a lot better at making my down time progressive, and not blank. I want to engage in meaning time like reading good literature that will enhance my walk with God. Let's make our down time effective so that we can experience more of God's peace, and become the peacemakers that our world is longing for. We were bought with a price, and we are here on earth, because God ordained this as our time to influence those around us, and even the world, through the internet. Peacemakers are very important to God, and to us, because we need to see how it is done through those who go before us, in obeying God, and His principles.