OneWord 2022: Peace

I wasn’t planning to choose a word for 2022, but God had other plans. That seems to be the story of much of my life: God had other plans. I wasn’t even considering a word, but days before the new year, He whispered His word for me: peace.

The past two years have been hard for all of us. Life as we know it radically changed—let’s face it, probably forever. Last year was a hard year for me personally. I lost two friends, both just 45 years old, one to a heart attack and one to cancer. Two childhood friends, both with young kids, lost their husbands just weeks apart. I faced my own personal struggles. It wasn’t a peaceful year—it honestly felt more like a year of loss.

This year promises to be an emotional roller coaster of a year. In May, my oldest son will have his graduation ceremony for the associate’s degree he finished in December. He will finish his first semester at another local college and turn twenty. In late May, my youngest son will graduate from high school. We’re facing the beginning of the end of life as we’ve known it for almost twenty years. Our roles as parents will change drastically over the next few years as we parent adults.

On top of that, I’m facing a struggle in my life that I never anticipated—one of those “God had other plans” moments. But He’s given me peace. I know that I’m inscribed on His hands, and He hasn’t forgotten me. He’s carrying me through. His plans were a surprise to me, but not to Him.

The older I get, the more I realize how untrue the phrase “When life settles down…” is, because it never happens. Life is change. Life catches us off guard. Life doesn’t look the way we expected it to look. But it’s never a surprise to God. I’m thankful for His peace through all life’s changes.