Peace, not fear.

My family has been blessed to be able to take an amazing trip that most people would jump at the chance to take – an extended visit to France to visit relatives who live there. In addition, my adult children will be taking several short trips to visit neighboring countries, including Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Switzerland. It’s such an awesome opportunity for them, and I’m genuinely happy for them – such a blessing to be able to do this!

However, if you watch the news at all, you might understand how I, as a mom, had major misgivings. For months as my family would excitedly plan the trip, I would have to excuse myself, actually feeling physically ill. I felt an indescribable panic — my only son, my daughter-in-law, and my only daughter and her boyfriend would be travelling around Europe in times when it certainly didn’t feel safe.

Now, I am not a fearful person. And I’m not a worrier. I have complete faith that God will protect us. But I had a very distinct feeling that we should not take this trip. I fasted, and prayed, and asked God to let someone ELSE in the family feel the same way, if what I was feeling was actually a spiritual warning. My family even took a week to fast and pray as well. Nobody felt anything but peace about the trip. So the plans went on. Still, I felt apprehensive.

I finally asked God to give me a sign – I told Him I totally trusted Him, and I praised and thanked Him that He would protect us. I stood firmly on Psalm 91, and I claimed the “peace of God that passes all understanding.” But I needed a sign because I wasn’t trusting myself and my ability to hear from Him.

At this point, I need to fill you in on something that happened about 10 months ago. I’d bought a leather bracelet, and was particularly fond of it because it also acted as a sort of diffuser for essential oils. I’d put the bracelet on and was preparing to go somewhere, but before I left, I needed to let the dogs out. I walked through the woods out to the back of our property, and as I returned to the house, I noticed that my bracelet was gone. I retraced my steps several times, but the brown leather bracelet would have been hidden in the dirt and leaves that covered the ground. I was heartbroken, and for the past ten months, my eyes have scanned the ground as I walked the same route over and over again. My bracelet was gone.

Now, back to the present. The night before my daughter was to leave for Europe, she began to pack in the suitcase she normally uses. Too small. So she dragged “the big one” out of the basement where it had been stored for quite some time. She unzipped the dusty suitcase, and there inside, was the bracelet I’d lost in the backyard! And it still smelled of the oils I’d applied almost a year ago!

We both looked at each other in amazement. She knew I’d lost it last fall, outside, in the woods. God was the only one who could’ve made this happen! There is absolutely no other way this bracelet could’ve found its way from the woods into a locked suitcase buried beneath junk in my basement. THERE WAS MY SIGN!

I felt total peace come over me, as my heavenly Father had just reminded me to trust Him.

“I prayed to the Lord and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears.” – Psalm 34:4