"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." - John 14:27.
This scripture - along with the beautiful hymn, "Where Can I Turn for Peace?" - brought me great comfort and taught me patience as my husband and I experienced challenges with one of our teenage daughters.
Dissension was the rule of the day - between our daughter and us, between our other teenagers, and sometimes between my husband and me. The spirit of the Lord was definitely not present in our home. We questioned our abilities as parents and wondered what we had done wrong.
Help was sought from a number of places, within and without the Church, and many different approaches were tried to solve our problems. However, two things helped more than anything during this troubling time - prayer and scripture study. For months I couldn't understand why the Lord didn't give me answers, why I wasn't getting help. I was asking things of the Lord that He could not do. I wanted Him to withhold my daughter's agency. I didn't want to allow her to make her own choices because I could see that they were wrong choices.
The hymns of the Church were a source of comfort to me and it was the hymn "Where Can I Turn for Peace" that led me to John 14:27. It was such a blessing to feel the Savior's peace flow into my heart. I truly felt the Savior's love and I knew He was aware of our needs. Things didn't change immediately and the problems didn't go away for several years, but I changed and was once again receptive to the Spirit.