My Other Name is Peter

My other name is Peter (or Peter-ella so it sounds more girly) you say with great question?! Yes, sounds weird, but let me explain...I identify with Peter (one of the disciples of Jesus), at least during his most ADD moments. He gets so enthusiastic, spouts his mouth, gets all excited about something his Lord is doing, but doesn't pause to think. I am grateful for this blog and you who are reading it. It gives me, Peter/ Kimberli the pause I need to think.


I have been thinking about and pondering quite a few things in my life lately. But, I will stick to my journey of chronic illness so as to not get too lost on a rabbit trail.

In the Gospel of Luke chapter 9 verse 28, Luke begins the story of "The Transfiguration." In a nut shell, Jesus took Peter, John, and James onto a mountain to pray. While they were up there, Jesus became bright like lightening and Moses and Elijah (long gone dead) appeared. Wow! They thought it was just another day praying with their Lord, but they were gifted with the greatest light show the world had ever seen, to put it lightly. It was an amazing day. A day where God revealed his splendor in a tangible way. It was a sacred place, not forgotten even to this day.

How many of us love and crave those kind of days? The days where everything goes right. The days where we feel good and get things accomplished. The days where we feel the hand of God on our life in a way that is unmistakable. I crave them. I want more of them. And, when I am having a day like that I never want it to end. Peter felt the same way. He wanted to stay on that mountain, make shelters and not let the experience fade.

I have been using the terms "my former life" and "my new life" a lot. My former life is the life before chronic illness. A time I remember as good, fruitful, promising and hopeful. My new life is the one I am living with chronic illness. A time that is terribly frustrating, confusing and seems like a dead end. As I read the story of the transfiguration with new eyes, I realized I had set up tents in my "old life." I didn't want to leave my perceived mountain top experience. Yes, things were good, but you can't stay on the mountain forever. Was is Newton who said what comes up, must come down? I have to come down off that mountain because it is now just an illusion, a memory. It is not reality and it will never be. I can remember it with fondness, but to continue my journey with Jesus, I need to follow him off that mountain. He left there 2 and a half years ago. It is time I see what He wants to do with me now...I have assumed it is just pain and torture. But when I pause, that is not the Jesus I know. This led me to remember Jeremiah 29:11-13. It is a promise God gave me about 5 years ago. It is also what led me to read the whole book of Jeremiah this summer.

To keep this article short, I will write more about my Jeremiah discovery in the next few days...it is amazing! I just leave you with this...I am glad I am not up on that mountain anymore waiting for my old life to reappear. I am living down here and God has good plans for me!