You only get one chance to make a great first impression. Vanessa Mistretta succeeded with me.
Vanessa
My friend, Marg Gibb, invited me into a Zoom call of women leaders from around the globe where Vanessa was speaking to the topic of Finding Peace In The Midst of Chaos. She talked about how to deal with chaos externally and chaos within.
If anyone knows chaos, it’s the people living through the last 13 months of terror in Israel.
Together with her husband, Michael, they lead a ministry called FIRM (Fellowship of Israel Related Ministries) based out of Jerusalem. Ten years ago, they co-founded the ministry with our friends, Wayne and Ann Hilsden. Vanessa is the Executive Director of Relationships. She was raised as a Jewish believer in Tampa, Florida and grew her faith in the Messianic Jewish Community.
Vanessa and Michael have a young family and have settled in their hearts that Israel is where God wants them to be. Already she is my hero.
Takeaways
Here are my takeaways from what she shared.
1. The peace that God offers is the same peace for all of us. God gives it freely. He wants us to walk in peace. Walking in His peace is like daily bread, it is new every morning. However, we all have been uniquely created so we respond differently to every situation. The cause of stress is different for all of us and anxiety is our reaction to stress.
2. What are our truth moments? The truth will ground you in any circumstance.
3. Peace is all about perspective!
Vanessa’s heart cry is, “Lord I need your voice to be louder than the chaos around me.” 
4. Whose voice is louder in your life: the world or the Word?
5. To walk in peace she needs to make sure she is getting enough rest, eating right and paying attention to her body rhythms and systems so that everything is balanced.
Great advice from one in the midst of the messiness of war and the unknown of everyday.
Listen to a message from Israel with Vanessa.
I’d love to hear what resonated with you from my takeaways from Vanessa’s talk. Please join the conversation by posting a comment below and share this on your social media platforms. Thank you.
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“To walk in peace, you need to make sure you are getting enough sleep, eating right, and pay attention to your body rhythms.” This reminds of Elijah when he was running away from Jezebel. God gave him rest and food . This helped his perspective.
In addition , “ whose voice are you listening to?” Elijah clearly did not have his eyes focused on God and all that was accomplished at Mt. Carmel. Often I forget all of God’s goodness too when worries, anxiety, and fears take over my thoughts .
Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real, while Truth is Taking Real Understanding To Heart.
God’s truth gives me peace .
Build the house you want to live in with the thoughts you think. ❤️