"Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths."  ~Psalm 25:4

Within the first five minutes of my Quiet Time this morning, the verse above came to my mind, and it led me down a lovely Holy Spirit rabbit hole.  It was recently suggested to a friend that she change up her prayer life by "taking the country road," which is a kind of path. Around here, a country road isn't always a change.  However, the implication is the same:  try something new.  If you pray rote prayers, try journaling.  If you journal, try meditating.  If you meditate, try reading something spiritual or uplifting.  If you do nothing, start something. You get the idea.  The point is to seek God by letting the Holy Spirit lead you down a new path.

The corona virus has changed the landscape of our day-to-day lives. It is unfamiliar and potentially dangerous; therefore, it is in part scary. How do we instinctively respond to fear? We survey our new scenery and do something familiar.  Some of us seek knowledge; we want to know more about the virus and its movement.  Some of us seek distraction, like social media, binge watching, or even focusing on other people's faults.  Some of us eat. Some of us get busy. You know what your thing is.

This blog is an opportunity to practice taking the spiritual country road in one specific way:  by seeking and focusing with intent on God's Peace.  What does that look like for you?  Is it found in gratitude?  In learning?  In serving?  What about creating something beautiful?  Maybe you don't know.  If you don't know, try something.  The only requirement is this:  that you seek Peace intentionally through the Holy Spirit by saying the words Come, Holy Spirit. 

Then go for it. It might take five minutes. It might take a few hours. It might be different every single day.  The key is in the every single day part of it. 

The secondary purpose of this blog is to create community in the midst of social distancing. I will write a brief post every day about what brought me peace that morning.  I am asking everyone to write a comment that shows what brought him or her peace that day. It can be a bible verse or a quote.  It can be a story.  It can be a picture.  You do not need to read what I wrote to comment; my post is in no way intended to be a required theme, though you are free to use it that way.

I pray that this will become a garden of peace.  Every day some will plant and some will harvest.  Plant seeds with comments on your good days.  It will grow into fruit that can be harvested on the more difficult days.