Peace (Copy)

Have you ever been asked a question or heard a statement, and it just grips your attention? The more you think about it, the more you THINK about it. It takes up a ton of space in the old noodle as you wrestle with it. For example, “What was the best day of your life and why?” Or “How much money is enough?” Or “If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go?” Or Will the Browns get to a Super Bowl in my lifetime?” That last one takes less time to answer than the others, just saying.

So, I experienced one of those questions over the past few months and have been wrestling with it greatly. I have been trying to pile drive that question into an answer, but I have just struggled to produce a definitive answer. That, my friends, is what you call a “good question!”

Toward the end of May I had the honor and privilege of serving on another Tres Dias weekend back down in Jamaica. Every one of these weekend retreats, whether in the U.S. or somewhere else like Jamacia, has a theme, a verse, and a song. The Rector (person chosen to be the leader of the weekend) is the one who picks all of these, and they are a focus as the weekend plays out. To prepare for a weekend the team (usually around ninety people) have eight team meetings to prepare, train, and unify prior to the actual weekend. For this weekend, the team started meeting in early February for the May weekend retreat.

At the first meeting the Rector introduces the theme, verse and song and tells the team why he was inspired to choose these and provides a back story. He also prepares a visual which is also an integral part of the weekend. During this first meeting we found out that the theme for this weekend was a question, which was a little different than normal. The question was: WHAT IS YOUR HEART LONGING FOR?

As mentioned previously, this was a question that hit something in my core. Initially, I thought that it was a straightforward question and should be pretty quick and easy to provide an answer. For some reason, it was not and in fact it was the opposite of that. I wrestled with it during all the team meetings and all through about half of the weekend.

What was my heart longing for? Was it a relationship? Was it a healthy doctor’s report? Was it more money in the bank account? Was it freedom to do what I wanted to do instead of what I had to do? Was it spiritual growth and maturity? Was it love? Was it sex? Was it friends? Was it washboard abs and my hair back? Was it respect? Was it knowledge? Was it more possessions? Was it a house on the beach? Was it understanding what is going on in our crazy world? Was it being “happy”? Was it feeling less alone?

All those things and more popped into my head at one time or another and would have been a true response, but it just didn’t have that feeling of being the RIGHT answer. Some of those felt partially right but not what would satisfy the question at hand. I wondered if the other guys were struggling with this as much as I was or was I meant to spend some time of deep thought and reflection on this and process through.

As the weekend started and we heard the theme spoken increasingly I did spend that time of deep thought and reflection. I also prayed that God would reveal to me what truly was the longing of my heart. As I was lying in bed one night the answer came to me. It hit me like Lawrence Taylor hitting Joe Theisman…. HARD!

It came to me while I was reading my Bible and when I was reading the following part of Scripture:

But the fruit of Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23.

The answer to “What is my heart longing for? was PEACE.

After four months of thinking about it and wondering why I couldn’t produce the answer it came to me…. finally. I hope you hang around a bit longer as I share with you my thoughts in the rest of today’s blog. I appreciate it.

But First…A Joke:

A guy from Michigan goes to the doctor and says, “Doctor, wherever I touch, it hurts.” “What do you mean?” the doctor asks.

“When I touch my shoulder, it hurts. If I touch my knee…ouch! When I touch my forehead, it really, really hurts.”

“I know what’s wrong with you,” the doctor says. “You’ve broken your finger!”

Go Bucks!

Bonus Dad Joke:

The wife and I decided not to have kids.

The kids are taking it hard.

A Verse to Contemplate:

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. - I John 3:18

Have I Told You This One?

As “Peace” finally came to me as the answer to what my heart was longing for, I immediately started to unpack that. I wish I had the ability to just enjoy the answer and move on but that’s not how I am wired up, I guess. I need to dig deeper. I need to understand fully. I need to be able to express it (I know…I know. Some of us buy too many shoes, some of us overthink).

As a kid, we gave the Peace sign to each other where you held out your middle and index finger in the form of a V, and everyone knew what that was. It was started during the Vietnam War and was not always taken as “peaceful.” That’s not the peace I’m longing for although it would be nice not to be at war and be a world of peace but after being here for 66 years, that is a pipe dream.

The kind of peace that my heart is longing for is elusive to me. It is the inner peace that you have no matter what is going on. No matter what the current circumstances may be (good or bad) you know that your heart is fine. You have clarity. You have focus. You don’t doubt. You don’t complain. You don’t panic. You don’t stress. You don’t think that you are all that and a bag of chips. You are calm and content. It’s the same peace that guarded the heart of Jesus even when he was being beaten and mocked by the people he was sent to save and redeem.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

THAT is the peace that my heart is longing for. During my entire life I have read or heard this verse a bunch of times. It sounds great, right? But I had never experienced it. Never felt that or even anything close to that.

Until….

My life changed in early November of 2025. I was in Jamacia at the same time as Hurricane Melissa, a C5. We don’t have those in Ohio or Georgia. It was one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded. It reached sustained winds of over two hundred miles per hour, and I was trapped there with twenty other guys riding it out. We were putting on a Tres Dias weekend, and we thought we could get it done and then fly out before she came to land. That didn’t happen. Our friends and family urged and begged us to leave. We just couldn’t do it. We felt like we were on mission. I really can’t explain it well, but we just had to stay even though it did not seem like a real smart decision.

It was the first time in my life that I experienced peace that transcends all understanding. I was sure that I was where I was supposed to be and doing what I was supposed to be doing and I felt total peace about it, as did the other guys there with me. Prior to this I always defined that kind of peace as when doubt goes away and I have total clarity. I was right but never experienced it at a level where I did that day. I know I worried my kids and loved ones, and I wish I could have explained it better, but I KNEW we were going to be fine.

Going through some intense live-changing events like Melissa and dealing with the grief of Michelle’s passing has forced me to look at life through a different lens, especially in regard to what is really important and what does my heart long for. I have been able to peel away my own “stuff” which was getting in the way of experiencing God’s true peace. Priorities change in life and sometimes it takes some intense events to really see it.

I’ve been searching for 66 years for elusive peace. It was nice to find it for a little while. Thanks for letting me share this with you today. I hope it didn’t sound too “out there” but it was important for me.

What is your heart longing for?

A Prayer:

Lord, I thank you for the gift of today. Help me cherish each moment and live it to glorify you. Guide me to your peace that goes beyond my understanding. Fill my heart with gratitude and use me to spread your love wherever I go. May today be an example of how your peace and your goodness changes lives.

Book Recommendation:

Simplify (Ten Practices to Unclutter Your Soul) by Bill Hybels (2014)

Music Recommendation:

Razamanaz by Nazareth (1973)

Quote of the Day:

“There are two rules in life: (1) Never give out all the information.”

A Cool Place to Visit:

Orange Beach, Alabama