P

When I was in 1st grade, I was hospitalized for possibly having Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. It's a sickness you can get from ticks. That summer was the summer of ticks- my mom was constantly de-ticking me. (We lived in the country. I played outside non-stop.) It was while school was in session and so my classmates all made cards for me. The card I remember was from a neighbor boy who wrote a joke in it that went like this:
Boy: Teacher, may I go to the bathroom, please?
Teacher: Sure, but first you must say the alphabet.
Boy: A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z
Teacher: That's fine except where's the P?
Boy: It's running down my leg.

Haha! Oh, it was a good one! What?! We were in 1st grade!! Of course, his mother was completely mortified but then again, she wasn't the one in the hospital with giant needles poking her wee little arm.

That story has pretty much nothing to do with today's post, except for the P.

Now stay with me...

At the start of the new year, many people pick a word of the year. I did last year. I didn't go about trying to see if everything fit that word, but it simply hung around in my mind all year. I'm especially prone to not do these sorts of things. To me, many times, it becomes something I end up working hard to make every situation fit. It becomes work instead of observation and thanksgiving. So I didn't do it last year with intentions of making this a lifelong habit but it happened again this year.

P for Peace- I struggle with this one. What is peace? I couldn't even define it. What is the opposite of peace? Turmoil, strife, a life upended by death gripping control. Who should have control? The Lord. But I really like to wrestle it from His hands. Over Christmas I caught of glimpse of peace. It was breath-taking. No, nothing was perfect, but my heart drew close to the One who is Peace and I could rest in Him. Peace that passes understanding. That comes from Him. Passes understanding happens when there is no understanding. When I don't get it and I might never get to get it. That means letting go of control.

P for Patience- I know what you're thinking. "No, Mindy, don't pray for patience!! That means you'll have so many opportunities to practice patience!" How can I say this except that its not that kind of patience. Relationships take patience. Circumstances take patience. Watching God unfold his plan in my life, which is going perfectly and according to His timing, takes patience. I want to remember that when I'm demanding that something happen or I will go crazy. I want to remember patience when I see glimpses of prayers answered, time and energy poured into something so long that it seems it will never happen and then something finally does happen.

P for Prayer- As I sat thinking of peace and patience, which are probably connected, I couldn't escape the fact that neither of these two things will happen without prayer. Deep prayer. Prayer that pours it all out, that is all real. Prayer that humbly acknowledges that I am not in not in control, only God is. I need to spend more time in prayer.

I did not go about trying to find words that started with the letter P. In fact, after I knew peace and patience were two words for this year, I really balked at the idea of prayer simple because I started with P. But here I am with these three words that give me a fresh perspective and are powerful.

Ok, I'm done now.

What about you? Do you have a word of the year? 

p.s. I didn't end up having Rocky Mtn. Spotted Fever but I got a lot of candy bars and a cool erasable pen.