And then I sat on the couch, reflecting on God’s grace, as I released all of the competing thoughts from my mind and heart.

I felt at peace.

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To say the very least, May has already been a month of learning and healing as I find ways to worship God in the midst of trials. I cannot say that I have reacted perfectly or exactly as He would have preferred. Yet I can say that He is patient and continues to work through me each day.

That’s exactly how I felt yesterday as I reluctantly readied myself for church. I say “reluctantly” because, quiet as it’s kept, Mother’s Day is a pain point for me and here’s why. While I have chosen to not birth children, Mother’s Day is the one day of the year where I feel like society shames me for not being a mother. I feel like society (and people around me) are waiting for me to pop out a baby and I am failing them by not doing it. I had been dreading yesterday because I didn’t feel like dealing with that awkward pause that comes when I wish someone a happy mother’s day and they pause because they can’t instinctively say, “same to you!”

It’s so small, I know. It’s the littlest of things that should not matter to me, I know. Yet up until yesterday, it triggered me and I hated having to cope with it.

Today, however, I recognize that I have given society far too much control over me, often fearing it more than I fear God. And that has to stop.

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Beloved, today’s #MondayMessage is intentionally brief because I want you to spend some quality time with God. Talk to Him about what He needs you to release today, so that you can feel His perfect peace. Personally, God spoke to me through a guest speaker at our church yesterday (click HERE to watch the sermon) and I am humbled by His personalization of that message. While I know the preacher was not talking to me only, the Holy Spirit used her to convict me that I had been too heavily relying on the approval of those around me, choosing to trust them over Him. And in choosing to live by what others thought and said about me, I missed out on two blessings:

• The beautiful uniquely M.E. that God created me to be.
• The peace that comes from simply trusting God when I give Him my burdens and cares.

So I am choosing peace.
And I pray the same for you.
So, go pray, Beloved.

Be blessed.