Peace and Construction

I saw this quote on pintrest today, and re-pinned it.  Then I thought about it a bit more, and thought about how all I seem to want each day is a little more 'peace'.  But maybe I have the definition of 'peace' wrong in my head.  When I am at the end of my patience and things are crazy with the kids, dogs, work, schedule, I tend to think 'I need more time, space, quiet...you know, peace."  But the reality is:  a) I have three kids...one of whom has some complicated needs.  b) I have two dogs, beloved by our children and although they are a mess sometimes, they meet a lot of needs and teach our girls so much. c) my husband and I have chosen work that allows us to live cross-culturally...daily living using another language outside the home in a developing country has it's challenges, and we did choose to live and work here. d.)  we also chose to be involved in a massive school start up...we knew it would be stress and hard work...and I am pretty sure if we knew just how much, we would choose it again (I think!).

So that being the reality of my life right now, 'peace' and quiet style peace may not be coming my way anytime soon.  And I need to learn to be ok with that.  I need to redefine what 'peace' will look like.  As a family we have made choices that we are happy with...we have birthed two kids, we've adopted one, and we want more...we let our kids sleep with us,  we demand fed our babies, we got two dogs, we chose jobs that don't exactly go 9-5.  But we are happy we made those choices and I need to remember when on those days when I just want to go hide and it's only 6:30 am, that the choices we made were prayerfully and consciously made.  I'm still learning that when we follow the Lord, it doesn't always mean 'peace and quiet' style 'peace.'  What it does mean is that I don't have to face things alone.  When the behavior issues have me at my wit's end, when the stress of getting our school registered keeps me up at night, and when all three girls end up in our bed when the subway - construction noise (the joys of living in a big city) wakes them up in the middle of the night, I need to remember that we are not alone.  Christ is there in the middle of all of it with us.  He sees our children's hearts, He knows the path ahead of the school project, and He finds joy in the closeness of our family and the peace that our children feel when they are comforted in middle of the night.  And I need that peace too...I need to let go and be filled with the peace of the presence of Christ in the midst of all this family - construction noise.