One Word
This winter on The Daily Pattern we’re in a series called One Word. Each day we take one word – a feeling or circumstance – and bring a word from God to it. Let the Word of God speak to your life.
Invocation
Make the sign of the cross, and say,
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation Prayer
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5) O Lord, I am lowly and humble. You alone are my inheritance. Amen.
Word: 2 Corinthians 12:9
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Meditation
Mistake by Megan Roegner
When I decided to become a high school English teacher, I thought my favorite part would be teaching the wonders of the world’s great writers. And while I do love exploring literature with students (you cannot begin to imagine my satisfaction at beginning a study of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night on the actual twelfth day of Christmas), what I love more than anything else is telling kids that they don’t have to be perfect.
I teach honors and AP English and am also a gifted education specialist, so I work with a lot of high ability and high achieving students. A struggle that many of them share is that they are petrified of making mistakes. You see, when you’ve been praised over and over again for being smart and earning good grades, you can start thinking that your value as a person lies in getting A’s or being admitted into prestigious universities. It can be tempting, then, to avoid activities that you aren’t sure you’ll be successful in. It’s paralyzing: Any sort of failure must be avoided to preserve this facade of perfection. As their teacher, I have the privilege and the responsibility of looking these amazing young adults in the eye and telling them that they are more than their GPA; more than athletic or musical prowess. To encourage them to try new things and to give them opportunities to realize that there’s a reward in risk and that failure isn’t final.
When I say this to them, I’m speaking to myself as well. I frequently hear that pesky little voice in the back of my head telling me I’m not good enough, dramatizing the smallest missteps into giant catastrophes. Not a good enough mother or teacher or wife. Not fit enough or generous enough. Kind of weird and awkward, too.
This voice is the reason why my favorite word is grace. Because even if the voice is right…even if I have made mistakes, even if I am as weird and awkward as I suspect I may be, God’s grace is sufficient. In grace we can confront that we aren’t perfect, or even particularly good sometimes. We can seek forgiveness for our failings without fear of retribution. And it is through this discovery that our worth lies outside of our own actions and accomplishments that we can find room to breathe, and then to grow.
Savior, I am sorry for the mistakes I make that hurt myself and others. I accept that I fail in many ways to live out your commands. Thank you for taking the cost of my mistakes onto yourself. Help me always to remember that I am forgiven and loved. Thank you for your sufficient grace. Amen.
Prayer for Family
· For my immediate family (parents, spouse, siblings).
· For extended family (cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents)
· For close friends that are as family to me.
· For those who don’t have families, or whose families are broken.
· For forgiveness and reconciliation where there is division in my family.
· For provision where there is need in my family.
· For God to be the foundation, and the cross the center of my family.
· For a generation yet unborn, future members of our family.
Closing Prayer
O Lord and King, your Kingdom comes even without our prayer. But we pray that it would also come among us. We are desperate for your reign and rule, for all we see is rebellion. Come into my heart, my home, my family, my work, my church, my community. Rule with justice and with mercy. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.