{"id":14540,"date":"2018-11-28T06:55:48","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T11:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/verastic.com\/?p=14540"},"modified":"2018-11-27T23:49:12","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T04:49:12","slug":"the-girl-is-thankful-for-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/verastic.com\/site\/personal\/the-girl-is-thankful-for-peace.html","title":{"rendered":"The Girl Is Thankful For Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

The girl is me.<\/p>\n

Hello there.<\/p>\n

Vera here.<\/p>\n

\"Thankful<\/p>\n

This was supposed to be a Thanksgiving Day post. I’ve been in America for a very long time – maybe even too long – and I have never really given too much thought to Thanksgiving Day. I mean, I’m usually thankful for a lot, but the formality of Thanksgiving Day has never really, really sunk in. And this year wasn’t any different until the Sunday before Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

I was in church and the Pastor was concluding the three-week long Thanksgiving preaching series when he told us to write on a post-it note (that was handed out at the beginning of the service) what we were thankful for. Usually, the first thing I’d usually think about (and write) under such a circumstance is life. Thankful for life. But this year was different.<\/p>\n

Without thinking twice, I wrote down PEACE. Because my people, I am thankful for peace. You won’t know the importance or magnitude of your peace until you have lost it. When you spend nights tossing and turning and worrying and agonizing and staying awake when the rest of the world is asleep, you’ll know what it feels like to not have peace. And when you get said peace back, you will cherish it like never before.<\/p>\n

A day before Thanksgiving last year, I made what is shaping out to be one of the best decisions of my life. I cannot say that it was the most difficult decision because given the circumstances, it was the only logical decision to make, but what I know for sure is that prior to my decision, I lost my peace last year.<\/p>\n

For Thanksgiving this year, Ada Verastic and I both got exactly what we wanted: she got to go out – twice – with her favorite aunt (who is also my favorite aunt<\/strong><\/a>) and I got to sleep. So the sleep was so good that I failed to write, but I thought about my peace the whole time. And I smiled while thinking about it.<\/p>\n

On that Sunday before Thanksgiving, I sat down in church and pondered on my life in the past twelve months. Sweet Potatoes, I am truly blessed and highly favored. For real. I am not where I want to be, but by His grace, I am far from where I used to be, and I cannot even conceive the wonder and miracles that lie ahead. I have come a long way, and in the midst of the storm, I have had peace that surpasses all understanding. I went through the fire and did not burn. Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego have nothing on me.<\/p>\n

On my post-it note, I also wrote that I was thankful for life, for an income, for family, for friends, and for the love of my life, Ada Verastic.  I hope you had a peaceful Thanksgiving, and I hope you had some time to reflect and count your blessings.<\/p>\n

P.S.<\/strong> I know Funmie will scream when she gets the alert that I wrote today. Every other day she asks me, “Vera, how far with the blog now? The last post was on September 19th. I refresh this page every day. When are you going to update it?”<\/em><\/p>\n

P.P.S.<\/strong> I’m grateful for friends who have turned to sisters. Hi, Funmie! I love you right back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The girl is me. Hello there. Vera here. This was supposed to be a Thanksgiving Day post. I’ve been in America for a very long time – maybe even too long – and I have never really given too much thought to Thanksgiving Day. 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