Word.

A trend exists, in the corner of the blogosphere where I hang out, to select a word for the year and let it--for 365 days--sort of define one's days or actions or very being. I chose a word for the first time, last year. I took my word selection pretty seriously. I really wanted a fun and unusual word: the sort of word that no one else would think to choose, something that would make me stand out as being clever or original. But, in the end, the Lord put the word "trust" on my heart. Run-of-the-mill, I thought. I felt a little disappointed.

But I got hit pretty hard, last year, and I thought about my word a lot. I wish I could tell you that--because my word was trust--I trusted God perfectly. Truth is, though, I spent a lot of time praying: "Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief."

My word helped most in that I told myself, often: the Lord had given it to me and would surely, therefore, teach me something about it in the course of the year. And He did, and I'm glad for it, but--I'll be honest--it wasn't always pleasant, the learning.

So here I am, five days into 2013, and God has given me another run-of-the-mill word: "peace." I feel a little nervous: is God planning to teach me something about peace by allowing me to be aggravated to death? He can be a little sneaky like that.

What I know for sure is that I can't expect peace on earth (including in my country or community). Jesus didn't come to bring it (Matthew 10:34, Luke 12:51). So--while I'm encouraged to be a peacemaker (Matthew 5:9)--what I'm going to learn about peace pertains, most likely, to the condition of my heart.

My Dad and Charleigh

Already, I'm wondering what I can do (and stop doing) to foster inner peace. I don't want to overthink it; after all, the peace of God passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:7). But if you have words of wisdom to share, please feel free...