A Moment to Pause

Today I sent off the manuscript for Book Three of the Free Men and Dreamers Series. It will not bring détente to any corner of the world, nor will it cause any other radical change in anyone else life, but to me it means . . . peace for a while.

You know what I mean. Most of us sprint through life, making sacrifices of time and juggling priorities to successfully tackle and master a goal. And then when it is done, we relax. Or in some cases, we crash and burn.

The peace. . . we all need these brief and blessed interruptions to the demands on our lives. There are many kinds of peace. Today I plan on enjoying that physical and mental release that comes from a meeting a deadline . . . like that silent pause that occurs when a monumental task is accomplished; the last day of school or the day we launch the meeting or activity for which we have prepared; or the last medical appointment in a long series of fearful visits; or the day we pay the last payment of tuition or other bills that strangle our budget and steal our peace.

Sometimes we rest and then we rise and go on again. But sometimes we crash, and we pause too long before we begin again. This is dangerous. Rest is like a drug. Good in the proper dosage, but too much can be debiliatating, even crippling and it forces some other burdened person to now take your load upon his own tired back. I love rest, but I also believe in the wisdom of the hymn "Choose the Right" when it says, "There is peace in righteous doing, there is safety for the soul."

So today I'll celebrate my peace by flopping on the sofa for a few minutes and let that sense of accomplishment wash over me. I'll kiss my husband with a real kiss, not one of those hit-and-run smacks that he's been getting on the fly at the doorway lately. And then I'll crank up a good CD and dig out of my cluttered house. Best of all, I'll hit the skies tomorrow and celebrate my grandson's fifth birthday. It's a brief, last-minute treat my husband and I tossed together, and it couldn't come at a better time.

Hugs from grandbabies! Now that's real peace!